Dear Twilight Sparkle
by Cyber Clash Pony
Summary: What is worse: physical pain or emotional pain? What if one is caused by the other? What if the one hurting you is feeling more pain than you are? In this story, Twilight discovers different types of pain that one's heart can not take. One is through words, or rather no words, and the other...
1. Prologue

Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MY LITTLE PONY. HASBRO DOES!

The library was quiet and serene. Little moonlight came through the window and slightly illuminated the dark home and revealed the dark figure of a baby dragon sleeping in a hoof-made crib. The gentle glow of Luna's moon reflected off of the purple scales and green spikes of the small rotund creature. A small puddle of drool was beginning to form on his soft blue blanket as he snored. He clutched his warm blanket as he muttered in his sleep, "Rarity…are those gems…for me?" He continued to murmur, snore, and make other strange noises.

Later that night, the front door slowly creaked open and let in the warm midnight spring breeze and a small amount of light to reveal the silhouette of a female unicorn. She quietly stepped inside and carefully closed the door and lit some candles by her desk with her magic. Owlowiscious had already set down a blank parchment on the centre of the desk, a quill above the parchment, and ink on the left side. She was very pleased with the owl now that he knew about the mare's obsessive-compulsive disorder and the preferences that came with it. Now, working at night was as easy as working during the day.

Twilight allowed a soft grin spread across her face as she realised she was about to do her favourite thing she always did at the end of the day: write to the princess. These weren't her usual weekly letters to the princess about her studies on the magic of friendship. They were just nonchalant letters about her day or questions about trivial things or just little secrets that she only trusted Celstia with. Twilight still remembered the day at the gala…

"Oh, Princess Celestia, I'm so glad I could talk to you this time!" Twilight beamed at the large alicorn.

"Indeed, it was quite generous of my sister to greet the guests this year so we could talk and she could get used to the modern crowd," the princess gave her star pupil a warm, bright smile that reminded those who saw it of her amazing sun.

Twilight just stared at her mentor with wide, sparkling eyes, like a little foal staring at an ice cream factory. She never did get very used to the fact that she was the princess's student.

After ten seconds or so, the princess felt a little awkward and cleared her throat before speaking, "Um… I, well, I trust that you and your friends had a great time at the gala this year?"

Twilight realised she had been staring. She lowered her head and tried to hide her now red violet face behind her mane (which was futile since her bangs were too short to hide her blush)"Y-yeah, um, we had a wonderful time this year, especially since we all looked after each other and made sure not to cause as much trouble as last year… ah ha…hahaha…"

"Oh, Twilight, sure your friends made a mess,but it was entertaining. Would you like to tell me about all of those adventures you fillies have all the time?"

Twilight leaped for joy at the sound of those words, "Of course, princess! Now where should I start…Oh I know! There was this one time…"

The princess listened to the purple unicorn tell her stories about her friends for the rest of the night. Both of the ponies wished they could stay like this forever, telling stories and laughing just like Twilight always did with the princess as a foal, talking about her favourite stories except now those stories were real. Unfortunately, the sun must always set some time (or in this case, the moon).

"I wish we could talk like this more often. The only time I get to communicate with you like this is in my friendship letters, but I wish I could tell you about my friends and our adventures just to tell you about them instead of telling you what I learned from them," Twilight sighed before she drank from her glass.

They were now in Pony Joe's donut diner near the castle. The stallion was wiping the tables and, strangely, still wearing his work uniform even after it was closing time (he had only let the princess and Twilight in the diner for obvious reasons). All they ordered was water to quench their extreme thirsts from talking so continuously. They both knew they would have to end their ever so precious conversation soon and Twilight was going to give that suggestion now, next year, or never. While Twilight cautiously levitated the glass to her face as to only sip a "Canterlot amount" of water at a time, Celestia's expression changed from a pondering one to a joyful one. Twilight was not as loquacious as she was when she was a foal, and conversations like these were always stored away and kept safe in her millennia-old heart. She wanted these more often.

With a hint of excitement in her voice, Celestia asked, "Well, why not?"

Twilight nearly choked on her drink as a sudden force in her magic caused by excitement tilted the glass a bit too much. Twilight quickly recovered and glanced at the princess from the side, "Oh my, Are you sure princess? I mean, you and I both know that you're always busy with your royal duties. I wouldn't want to distract you from your work."

"Nonsense. I always have time for my star pupil," the princess chuckled as she nudged the unicorn's cheek.

"Well…okay. I'm glad we can talk without causing any trouble," Twilight looked up at her mentor, "I'll write to you twice a week and tell you about all of our adventures. Haha, This is going to be great now we can finally ta-"

Twilight was suddenly interrupted as a wild bunch of confetti came from the ceiling followed by a pink pony got between them and yelled, "WEE! Oh I'm so glad you to can finally talk all the time. Honestly, who doesn't like talking, right? I love talking, you love talking, and even Fluttershy likes talking! You could talk about cupcakes and balloons and parties! Wait, what if you could have a party through letters! That would be super-duper, Pinkie-Celestia-Twilight-party-through-parchment-cupcake-tastic! You could call it a parchment party! YAAAY!"

The two ponies, especially Twilight, were surprised bye Pinkie's sudden appearance from…_where did she even come from? And where did that confetti come from?_ Twilight did not dare ask those questions. Who knew what would happen if Pinkie Pie gave some incomprehensible answer? Instead, after she recovered from shock, she asked, "Pinkie Pie, how long have you been here? Where are the others?"

"Oh! Rightrightrightrightright! The others were wondering where you were so I came here 'cuz I_ knew_ you would be here! I mean, who wouldn't be here? It's a _donut shop_ for Luna's sake and who doesn't like donuts!? Aaaaanyway, so once I came here, I noticed you two were talking and I saw the princess grin and I was like, 'the princess is smiling! That must mean something good!' and whadayaknow! It was a good thing!"

"Wait, but how did you kn- um…never mind. Let me just say good bye to Princess Celestia and we can go home, okay?" Twilight quickly said her plan rather than ask one of the few questions in Equestria that no pony should ask.

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkie Pie grinned a large Pinkie Pie grin at Twilight.

The purple unicorn let a small smile spread across her face. She would have kept dreaming about that night if Owlowicious had not been on his perch and 'hooed' at Twilight. She jumped slightly as she realised that she had been zoning out. She gave the owl an apologetic smile and she looked at her parchment. Blank. _Right,_ she thought, _I should get started._ After taking a deep breath and gathering her thoughts, she followed the quill with her eyes as it was being covered by a purple aura, levitating from the ink to the parchment. She began to write…

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today my friends and I had a party to celebrate a new trick that Rainbow Dash learned. She calls it the "Rainbow Wing Drop of Awesomeness". My friend Pinkie Pie got really excited and suggested that we have a party. All of us agreed except for Applejack because she had to take care of her little sister and her friends back at Sweet Apple Acres and so she wouldn't be able to attend. We all said that we understood and that we hope that she would be able to come next time, but Pinkie wouldn't let Applejack feel left out while we all enjoyed ourselves at the party.

She kind of pestered us all day until she had a brilliant idea: we could have Rainbow's party at the barn in Sweet Apple Acres! We had Applebloom and her friends agree with the idea and we set up the barn for a party. Then we waited in the darkness for about two minutes until she walked in. We all jumped out and yelled, "SURPRISE!" and she let a large grin spread across her face. She mostly hung out with Rainbow Dash during the event and they kept challenging each other in friendly competitions. Those two have such a steady rivalry. I mean, really, they never give up! Eventually, Pinkie brought in these really…creative desserts. She said she got the idea back at Dodge Junction. She was deciding on the names Chimi-Cherry, Cherry-Chonga, or Chimi-Cherry-Chonga. By the way, what is your opinion on the name?

Anyway, everypony had a good time in the end and that's about it. I hope you had a wonderful day as well!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Pleased with the letter, she placed it next to Spike's crib on the floor so he could send it when he woke up in the morning. She stroked the baby dragon's head for a little while until she released a silent yet dramatic yawn. She decided to call it a night and walked over to her bed. Before she got under her blankets she blew out the candles with a minor wind spell and gave a small smile to Owlowicious who was on the window preparing himself for his midnight hunt. After getting under the covers, she felt her eyelids becoming heavier as she stared at Luna's moon. She was eager for princess Celestia's glorious sun to take over the sky. Wanting to stay awake only to see the rise of the magnificent light orb, she reluctantly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 1: Best Movie Ever

A gentle stream of sunlight flowed through the curtains and aimed on Twilight's face. She slowly opened her eyes, but kept them squinted since the sunlight was a bit harsh for her vision. She got out of her bed and stretched her limbs. She looked over at the empty crib on the floor; it was nicely tended and the blanket had absolutely no wrinkles-exactly what Twilight expected from her number one assistant. She yawned, _Pony feathers! I woke up eight minutes and twenty-two seconds late,_ she thought as she looked over at her clock. She trotted over to her mirror and made her mane look more presentable. Once that was finished, she rushed downstairs to the kitchen where she was greeted by a baby dragon wearing a pink chef hat and apron.

"Morning, Twilight. Wow, you seem to be in a hurry." He handed Twilight a bowl of oats and warm milk with a side of chamomile and lavender tea.

"Good morning Spike. I woke up pretty late this morning and I'll probably be late for something now! I don't want to be late because then the pony will be mad at me and I won't have any excuse to be late!"

Spike paused for a moment as he wiped away a look of concern and confusion, "Uh… Twilight? You only have two things to do today and they're both in the afternoon…"

"What!? No, that's not right. Hand me my agenda," Twilight ordered uselessly as she used her telekinesis to bring it to her. She carefully looked over what she had planned for today and read it out loud," Two o' clock- Go to Carousel Boutique and pick up gown for the upcoming play in Ponyville Theatre. Five o' clock- go to Sugar Cube Corner to pick up three of Pinkie Pie's special tart sweets. That's it? I have nothing planned for tonight? That's strange. Spike, maybe I forgot to write down a few things!"

"Oh c'mon, you always say that when you have no plans! Just take this opportunity to relax alright?"

Twilight sighed out of annoyance, "Fine…Hey, did you send that scroll I left beside your bed?"

"Yeah, I always do, don't I?" Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah! Do you mind if I tag along with you today? I'll be done with my chores by one thirty."

"Sure. I suppose you can."

The morning went by tediously, but not very slow. It was a typical morning for Twilight Sparkle and Spike; the purple unicorn was simply re-reading some of her favourite spells by Star Swirl the Bearded while the little dragon was doing all of his chores. Twilight always finished her share of the chores during the night with Owlowicious and Spike did his share in the morning. Spike usually did all of the cleaning around the home and Twilight would pay the bills.

Eventually, one-thirty came and Spike was finished with his errands as he promised. Twilight closed the spell book and smiled at the purple and green creature, "Come on Spike, let's head on down to Rarity's."

After a moment of having his mind be sweetly caressed by the sound of the ever so fitting name, Spike came to his senses and eagerly walked toward the door. Twilight held the door open for the little dragon as he skipped out the threshold thinking about the fashion pony. They looked around Ponyville as they walked toward Rarity's boutique. The town was, as usual, filled with some ponies working and rushing this way and that, and others were just enjoying the beautiful spring day by sauntering around town with friends or dates. Twilight breathed in the fresh spring air and thanked Princess Celestia for the beautiful day. The best days were the ones at the beginning of the season. Right after Winter Wrap-up, the days begin to have various delightful smells wafting through the warm air.

Spike held the door open for Twilight this time. As soon as it was opened, the bells chimed and a beautiful unicorn mare with a white coat and azure eyes and an absolutely fabulous mane came to the entrance and began to recite her slogan, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique where-Oh, Twilght! Good afternoon to you," she soon felt the dragon's wide green eyes staring at her in admiration, "and to you as well, Spike."

"Hey Rarity," Twilight began," I wanted to see if you had my gown ready."

"Oh, of course! I just needed you opinion on it." Rarity motioned them to come in as she walked toward the kitchen. "Please, make yourselves at home. I shall prepare some rose tea while you take a look at your gown. It should be over there by the mirror."

Twilight easily found her gown by the light shades of blue and the dark shades of purple-exactly what she had requested. Twilight observed the piece of clothing…_good… It's simple yet really pretty. It's definitely but with a bit more…elegance._ Twilight's attention was captured by a small grey suit and top hat that lay next to her gown. It certainly didn't seem like it was for a pony.

Rarity came out of the kitchen and was followed by a teapot and a few cups all surrounded in a light blue aura until they had set themselves down on the coffee table in front of the couch, "Well, what do you think? Isn't it simply marvelous? I thought about just making a simpler version of the dress you wore at the Gala, but with different shades. Ah, yes, and I also made a tuxedo for Spiky-Wiky as well," she looked over at the dragon with the cutest face she could manage, "Since he would look so adora-uh I mean… masculine and… handsome in such an outfit," She fixed her words as she caught sight of Spike's frown at the start of the word.

Twilight sat down on the couch with Spike and smiled at the other unicorn, "Wow Rarity! It truly is beautiful. And I love the tux you made for Spike. I'm sure he'll have a great time at the theater as well," she petted Spike's head as he frowned at her.

"Bu Twilight, I thought we agreed that you all would go see all of that boring stuff while Owloicious and I looked after the library!" Spike put on his best begging face as he continued,"Pleeeaase, Twilight, I really don't want to see something as boring as Marey Trottins! Much less wear a suit."

Rarity smiled at the baby dragon, "Come now, Spike, everypony loves Marey Trottins. I adored the play when I was a little filly and even now, as a mare, I still do. Besides, you'll be enjoying it with your friends. We'll have a great time together. I promise."

Spike stared into Rarity's eyes as she put a hoof on his shoulder. The fact that Rarity would also be going to the theatre was enough to make him reconsider his decision, "Well, alright. If everypony else likes it, I guess it couldn't hurt to at least _try_ to watch it."

Both unicorns grinned and Twilight patted Spike's back, "That's what I like to hear. Besides, I'm sure you'll like it. I never got tired of watching Marey Trottins!"

After a long conversation and a few cups of tea, Twilight and Spike departed from Carousel Boutique. They went back to the library to drop off the elegant clothing. Spike decided to stay at the library this time and so, Twilight headed off to Sugar Cube Corner. That bakery was a very common hang out place. Lots of ponies came in and out with groups; hardly ever did anypony cone alone. Fortunately for the six friends, they had access to the bakery even after closing hours. Usually when the bakery is closed, Pinkie Pie releases any excess energy she has left from the sugar and her many friends who came to the confectionary.

As soon as Twilight came in, a pink mare came at her at an intense speed, but stopped merely inches away from Twilight's nose greeted her.

"Twilight! Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat! Rainbow Dash got six tickets to see the premier of the new Daring Dipper movie! Isn't that absolutely _fantastic_!?" Pinkie Pie beamed at the unicorn.

Rainbow Dash was at the counter next to Fluttershy. She rolled her eyes as she explained the situation better, "Pinkie Pie, it's Daring _Do_, not _Dipper_. Aaanyway… I got really excited about my favourite book series becoming a movie. This is the first one and I wanted you guys to come with me. Of course you don't have to, but you'd miss out on the world's coolest thing _ever_!" Rainbow Dash pushed Pinkie Pie aside and moved herself closer to Twilight as the purple pony moved backward, "But actually, I think Twilight should come with no exception! She introduced me to the world's most-wait! No-_second_ most awesome mare in Equestria! And besides, it'll be so epic…'" Twilight was now backed against the wall and Rainbow Dash's nose was slightly touching hers, "It will blow…your…egghead…mind."

Twilight pushed the Pegasus back with a hoof before she spoke, "Of course I'll go, Rainbow. I loved that series too and I'd love to watch the movie with you all."

"WOOOOO! Alright!" Pinkie and Rainbow said in unison as they hoof-bumped in mid air. _How is Pinkie Pie even UP THERE!? _Twilight simply chuckled at the incomprehensible sight; she turned her head as she saw a yellow Pegasus come toward her from the corner of her eye. In Twilight's eyes, Fluttershy was a great friend for her; she was quiet (which caused no problems if Twilight were reading), smart, polite, and just plain adorable! But of course, she found it too shameful to admit.

"Oh I'm so glad Rainbow Dash gets to see this movie. I'm not really a fan of action movies…but if…if everyone else wants to watch it…then I don't really mind," Fluttershy quickly glanced at Twilight, but the poor pony can never hold casual eye contact with somepony staring back at her for more than a second unless she gathered a ton of courage and confidence.

"Well, I'm sure you won't think Daring Do is scary or anything. You'll be fine. Promise," Twilight smiled at Fluttershy. Even though Fluttershy usually never showed much emotion, her friends could easily sense her getting tense.

Fluttershy released a sigh of relief, "Oh, th-thank goodness. I get scared easily so that's why I usually stick to romantic-comedy. But, um…I…I guess it wouldn't hurt to try action…"

Fluttershy was about to completely feel calm until a certain blue Pegasus came up from behind her, "Alright! This is gonna be so awesome! I hope they show the part where Daring is trapped in a room with cobras and the spike walls that kept coming closer together and the quick sand and she almost dies!"

Fluttershy began to tremble. The more Rainbow spoke about Daring Do's near death experiences, the harder Fluttershy began to shake. Her teal eyes were wide with horror while Pinkie Pie was munching on some popcorn as she listened to the stories.

Twilight soon became aware of the situation, "Rainbow! Stop! You're scaring Fluttershy!" Twilight pulled the terrified mare into a comforting hug.

"O-oh. S-sorry Flutters, didn't mean to scare you. If it makes you feel better… I'll cover your eyes in all the scary parts, okay?"

As she felt Fluttershy calm down, Twilight slowly released her from the embrace. The yellow Pegasus smiled at Rainbow Dash, "Thank you, Rainbow…I'd appreciate it."

After the announcement, Twilight purchased the sweets and went to the library to inform Spike on the sudden change of plans. After she had eaten dinner there, Twilight set out to see the "Most Amazing Movie in the History of Amazing Movies"…or something that Rainbow would say along those lines. She herself was actually just about as excited as Dash. She was just bad at expressing herself, but when she did express herself, she seemed like a little filly who had just been told she's getting a life-time supply of chocolate. She knew Rainbow would be excited to see the movie as well, but she didn't know she'd go so far as to buy the tickets for the premier! _Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesy es! This is going to be the coolest movie ever! I love Daring Do and I'm going to be one of the first ponies to watch the movie!_

She arrived at theatre before she realised it and was still savouring the thought of fulfilling her own foolish dreams. _I probably won't even have time to blink. I can't! I absolutely cannot risk missing a MOMENT of this film! Oh my gosh! After today, I will be the happiest mare in all of Equestria! Oh, I should totally write a letter to the Princess! Oh my gosh, what if she likes Daring Do too? Then we could write about the whole series and discuss it! Maybe, I could even convince Rainbow Dash to join! _"Woo! It's the best plan ever! Most amazing movie ever, here I come! Wait for me, Daring Do! My name is Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight had now opened her eyes and realised that she had reached her destination. And it was a public place. And she had just yelled something ridiculous out loud. And her friends were right there. All of them. With blank expressions on their faces…

Rainbow Dash was the first to fail at containing her laughter, and then the rest followed. Twilight was blushing furiously; she helped her friends up after their laughing fit. Throughout the entire process of buying snacks and finding good seats, the purple unicorn was showered with teasing from Rainbow Dash. _Right. This is what happens whenever I express my feelings. Buck me._ To the unicorn's relief, the film started after fifteen minutes of advertisements.

_Best movie ever…here I am…_


	3. Chapter 2: Cupcakes Fix Everything

The movie began much like the book: Daring was stranded in the forest with her injured wing. Twilight and Rainbow sat next to each other, comparing the book to the movie. Sometimes, the dialog from the movie was exactly the same as the book and they would speak the lines before the characters did. The other ponies, including Fluttershy, were enjoying the movie as well.

Finally, they reached a part where Daring was escaping from a horrible death. At that moment, the film played a suspenseful and adventurous tune as the pegasus on the movie screen sprinted toward a bright light. Soon enough, the orange mare reached the light source and the entire screen went white for a moment or two. During those moments, Rainbow Dash felt something twitching on her shoulder. She turned to Twilight and was going to ask 'what's up?' but then…she saw it…

The unicorn that had caught her attention, now on the ground, was having a seizure.

Rainbow Dash panicked! It took her four glances at the purple mare on the dark floor to realise what was happening. Without thinking she yelled as loud as her lungs would allow as she was breathing rapidly, "Whoa! WHAT THE BUCK?!" Every single pony in the audience crowded around to see what the trouble was. When the unicorn's other friends came around, before any pony else of course, they were all shocked at the sight.

Applejack was the first to take action, "Quick! Is anypony here a doctor?! We need a doctor! Please! Help us!"

At this point, the film had stopped. An orange unicorn stallion with an brown mane pushed through the mob of ponies, "I'm a doctor! Everypony, please, move! Clear out of the theatre room!"

All of the ponies, including the five friends, exited the theatre room. They all felt different yet similar emotions; Rarity had fainted from all the anxiety, Fluttershy was about to end up like her, but until then she was hyperventilating, Rainbow Dash was comforting Pinkie Pie and Applejack as she noted that the doctor who was taking care of Twilight had also taken care of Dash's broken wings. Applejack was also trying to comfort Pinkie Pie; mostly because she was doing something that she would never do-she was being silent.

Soon enough, they heard a siren and caught sight of the flashing red and white lights. Two employees, called in by the doctor, rushed into the theatre. They were pushing a stretcher to the room as fast as they could. As quickly as they came, they left with the purple unicorn on the mobile bed and rushed back to the ambulance. The doctor was quickly following the employees, but he then stopped to talk to the five remaining ponies in the hall. He stared at them; he opened his mouth but couldn't talk. He then gave up and continued toward the ambulance.

The ponies simply looked at the entrance of the theatre. They were still in shock by what happened. They stayed like that for a very long time. Nopony, not even Rainbow Dash who despised standing still, dared to move even one hoof. Rarity was now awoken from her unintended respite. Once she opened her eyes, she knew she had been sucked back into this nightmare. They stayed like that for a few hours.

Pinkie Pie was the first one to speak, "What…um, what just…happened?" That tone of voice was enough to make the others' blood run cold. That tone of voice, so melancholic and afraid, was a sound that nopony was used to. Why? Because Pinkie Pie was never scared and hardly ever sad.

"I th-think Twi…Twilight h…had a…" Fluttershy was still having trouble breathing.

"A seizure," Rarity finished. None of them knew she had woken up. Her voice had made them all jump.

Applejack slowly placed a hoof forward. She turned to find that nopony was following her. They looked at her in confusion; as if they had forgotten how to walk, "C,mon ya'll, it's no good standin' around. We should go home n' try t'get some sleep."

"And just how the buck am I supposed to sleep after _that_?!" Rainbow Dash gestured toward the theatre room. Her voice revealed anger, "How is _anypony_ who was there supposed to sleep?" Dash's voice was ice-cold as she asked that question.

" Ah know it's hard, Rainbow. Espcially since Twi was right next to you, " she placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder; the same shoulder that Twilight was…twitching on, " but she wouldn't want us standin' here all night. Let's go home now and we'll visit her first thing tomorrow mornin'. Alright?"

The other ponies nodded in agreement as Rainbow Dash answered reluctantly, "Fine."

Twilight awoke to the smell of rubbing alcohol and various acid smells. The bed she was on was white and cold. _Am I in the Ponyville Hospital?_ She thought. _What in Equestria ha-_

"Good morning, miss Sparkle," Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a nurse. She was a white mare with a pink mane tied up in a bun. " Are you feeling alright, dear?"

Twilight nodded, "Y…yes. I'm fine."

The nurse caught on to Twilight's confusion, "Don't worry, I'll wait here with you until the doctor comes.

The purple unicorn gave a grateful smile. The two mares waited about five minutes before the doctor came, "Thank you Nurse Red heart. I'll take care of the rest." The white mare nodded and then left. The orange stallion was reading over some papers on a clipboard being held by a blue aura.

"Well, miss Sparkle, from what this tells me, there's a ninety-five percent chance that this was an epileptic seizure. It's quite trivial, but I can prescribe-"

"Wait a minute," Twilight interrupted, "You said ninety-five percent. What's the other five percent?"

"Well…" the doctor pushed up his glasses with a hoof before continuing, "It could have been caused by Ventricular Fibrillation."

"Oh my goodness…" Twilight's eyes went wide as she put a hoof over her mouth.

The doctor tried to ease Twilight, "However, that is not quite likely. According to these results, you have very sensitive eyes. Besides, that sudden flash on the screen was quite bright and very disturbing even to _my_ eyes. Please do not worry yourself. You may check out this afternoon."

The doctor left the patient in the room. She kept wondering about the seizure, _Could it really be Ventricular Fibrillation? Perhaps I could ask somepony, or do some research. Since when did I even have that anyway?_ Twilight kept asking herself questions she couldn't answer.

She studied many things, but she never really studied diseases unless she or somepony else was sick. Thus, she was not aware that Ventricular Fibrillation and other such diseases were more common in unicorns. Depending on a pony's health status and the average magic they used per day, the pony would be more vulnerable to such diseases. Alicorns, however, were not affected very often since they are supposed to use a vast amount of magic every day and it doesn't really matter if they caught it anyway since alicorns do not die easily.

"Miss Twilight Sparkle," said Nurse Red Heart, "you have a few visitors." The white mare allowed five ponies to come into Twilight's room. As soon as the nurse left, the ponies surrounded the patient's bed and began to interrogate her.

"Twilight! Glad you're okay. What happened back there?"

"Well, Rainbow, I-"

"Are y'sure you're alright though, sugarcube? We're here fer you no matter what, okay?"

"Uh, thanks, Apple-"

"Yeah! Don't forget we're by your side even if Discord came back with an army of zombie ponies! Though, if he's the ruler of chaos, I think he'd have a better army. Hey, Twilight, what do you think Discord would have an army of? Does he even have an army? He should get one. Oh, but that would be bad. Hey maybe _we _can get an ar-"

"Girls!"

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash gave apologetic smiles. Rarity and Fluttershy simply stood beside the unicorn's bed; their faces dull and their bodies tipping slightly due to a lack of balance. _Did they even sleep last night?_

The five ponies tried to do as Applejack suggested. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack managed to fall asleep after a few hours of struggling and processing the earlier events of that night. Fluttershy and Rarity, however, were not at all successful. Since they are the most sensitive of the six, they had been even more traumatised than Rainbow Dash. Still, even with their insomnia, they managed to visit Twilight; after all, she had had the worst experience.

"I appreciate your concern, but if you're going to ask questions, wait for my answer before you ask the next one!" Twilight let out a sigh before continuing, "Anyway, according to the doctor, it was more than likely an epileptic seizure. However…Yeh, he just said it was an epileptic seizure." Twilight didn't really want to worry her friends right after last night. Her friends gave her looks of suspicion and confusion.

Pinkie asked, "what's an e..eli…epil…"

"Epileptic has to do with sensory disturbance, darling," Rarity managed before she released a magnificent yawn, followed by a more modest yawn from Fluttershy.

"Ohhhhh…What's sensory disturbance?"

Everypony refused to answer the question. They all knew Pinkie would go on and on. Twilight simply ignored it, "Well, I'm going to be checking out of the hospital in the afternoon. I'll be heading back to the library to rest for a while."

"Well, could we visit you? Y'know, to keep ya company while you're recoverin' from all this drama," Applejack suggested. She remembered once she had broken her back leg. Unfortunately, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh had left for Appaloosa. She and Apple Bloom had to take care of the farm and when her little sister was away, she felt lonely. She didn't like being alone with that injury; in a way, it made her feel useless.

"Well…only if it won't be too much trouble. I'd appreciate having all of you by my side. After all, you guys were…there…when it happened," Twilight looked down at her bed sheets. Its white colour reminded her of the light in that certain part of the movie that led to that horrifying event.

Rainbow Dash noticed the unicorn's distress and quickly changed the subject, "Alright. So we'll meet you at the library."

"Hm? Oh, yeh. Thanks, girls," Twilight said, snapping out of her disturbing daze.

_That's right. Rainbow Dash saves the day again! I'm not gonna let anypony have any negative thoughts about anything! Twilight's gone through some stuff and if somepony's gotta keep her away from it then I'll be the one to do it! Hay, I'm gonna be awesome at this! _Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She allowed a wicked grin to spread across her face.

"Okey Dokey Lokey, Twilight! We'll be waiting at your library. Ooh! I'll bring cupcakes for everypony! And I'll bring balloons and punch and other ponies and cake and pre-"

"Sorry Pinkie," Twilight cut her off before she got carried away, "but I just need my _close_ friends, not a party." The purple pony then noticed Pinkie's face become a bit less happy. She quickly thought of something to say, "Um…But, I-I guess I _would_ appreciate a cupcake…" Twilight tried to avoid looking at Pinkie's face.

The pink pony gave the unicorn a smile that not many ponies see from her. It's a smile that's grateful and understanding. It's almost as if she were taking a break from being Pinkie Pie and she's trying to understand; to be normal. But soon enough, she widened her smile into a Pinkie Pie smile. In a way, it angered the purple unicorn just a tiny bit. _How can she even be happy? Is she really trying to force joy upon me after…that?! Wake up, Pinkie Pie! I'm not happy! I don't need this right now! What am I thinking? She's just trying to cheer me up…I'm sorry, Pinkie…I'm sorry._

"Okay, Twilight! I get it! No party; just cupcakes!" The pink pony grinned widely once more.


	4. Chapter 3: The Brew

"Thank you, doctor, I appreciate the help!" Twilight waved at the orange stallion as she walked out of the hospital.

"You are very welcome, Miss Sparkle! Have a nice day!" the doctor shouted back from across the hall.

_Oh, I'll have a good day, all right. As soon as I do some research on Ventricular Fibrillation,_ she thought to herself as she walked back toward her home. Even if it was only a five percent possibility, it's still a possibility. Even if it weren't a possibility, if she hears about it, she has to know. It's just a feeling. It's like something is gnawing on her mind and soul. And it won't go away until she knows what it is. She just _has_ to know what everypony else knows. She doesn't want to look like a fool. _I've always wondered if that has anything to do with the fact that I have an obsessive compul-_

"TWIIIILLLIIIIIGHT!" the purple unicorn heard a familiar underdeveloped male voice. She squinted as she saw a small figure running toward her.

"Spike?" the mare began to recognise his rotund shape and frightened face. _What's wrong?_

"Twilight!" the little dragon grasped her front hoof and sobbed, "Twilight! Th-they told me what hap-pened! They told me-e to wait at the libr-ary, but I-I wanted to make sure you were- you were really okay…"

Twilight looked down at Spike in worry. _Oh, poor Spike. He must have been so worried._ "It's all right, Spike. I'm okay; It was just epilepsy." The dragon looked up at the violet mare. Through his tears, he managed to see the smile that she offered for comfort. "Come on, Spike, the sooner we get back, the sooner we can eat cupcakes."

Spike sniffed and ended his crying, "Right!"

The two made their way home while the others were waiting inside the library with a spare key Rainbow Dash had. Pinkie Pie had brought a baker's dozen of cupcakes. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were hanging up a "Welcome Home" banner on the bookshelves. Applejack was setting up a table with apple-based pastries and snacks. Rarity was fluffing the pillows on the couch after every time that Pinkie had decided to jump on it.

"Pinkie Pie, stop bouncing on there! You're going to ruin Twilight's couch and hit your head!" Rarity yelled in frustration.

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie jumped off of the couch as she gladly responded, "But you could have just said so, silly. There's no need to be angry."

"My apologies, Darling. I'm just a bit tired," Rarity said in an exhausted tone.

"I um, I know how you feel, Rarity. I couldn't sleep at all last night," Fluttershy said as she flew down to the floor.

Rainbow Dash looked out the window, "Hey guys, I think I see Spike and Twilight."

Pinkie Pie gasped, "Quickquickquick! Everyone hide!" She suddenly hid under a table.

Applejack walked up to the threshold, "Pinkie Pie, come out'a there. It's not a surprise party, y'know."

Applejack opened the door for Twilight and her assistant, "Howdy Twilight, Spike. Ah hope ya'll don't mind, but we decided t'go ahead and set things up," she gestured to the pastries and the banner.

Twilight chuckled to herself. She had to admit, her friends did care about her, "Thanks, this was really nice of you girls to do."

At that moment, Pinkie Pie jumped out from under the table and landed in front of Twilight, "Aw, it was nothing, Twi. Now, you just go on, have a cupcake, and do whatever it is Twilights do, okay?" She petted the unicorn on the head and bounced her way over to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Twilight gave a cupcake to Spike as she began to eat hers, "Thanks, Twilight," the dragon said. He took a bite out of the confection before speaking, "Mmm, Twilight, I forgot to tell you; the Princess sent a letter to you this morning."

He handed a scroll with a royal seal to the unicorn, "Dear Twilight, I'm glad to hear you're having fun with you're friends….hmmmm…mmmhmmm…Sincerely, Princess Celestia," she rolled the letter back up and turned toward Spike, "I'm going to do a bit of research for a while. I just need to find the book I need and then we can have fun, all right?" Spike nodded, she then went to her bookshelf to find the book she needed.

…_Pony Pox...100 Bacteria Ponies Come in Contact With Each Day…Lung Diseases…Types of Seizures, Spasms, and Side Effects from Medication…Is this it? _Twilight surrounded the book in her violet aura and opened it up. She quickly glanced behind to make sure no other pony was suspicious. _…Chapter sixteen: Ventricular Fibrillation…_She flipped to the page and quickly began scanning through_…occurs when…usually caused…Ischaemic Heart Disease? _She replaced the book and took another one named 150 Cardiovascular Conditions and Infections. She hesitated; she thought that perhaps she should read later and just pretend that everything is fine now.

"Hey Pinkie, I know I said no parties, but…you wouldn't happen to have your party cannon here…would you?" the unicorn asked as she grabbed one of the apple fritters that Applejack brought.

Pinkie Pie gave a blank stare for a second. She processed her thoughts in half a second, _That's odd. Twilight suddenly wants a party? Oh well, PARTY TIME!_ "Of course I do, silly. Why would I _not_ have it?" The party pony stretched her forelegs to somewhere in the library and (somehow) got her party cannon.

The pink mare shot balloons and confetti out of the cannon. All of the other ponies danced to music and began to get into party mode. Twilight liked this._ If this turns out to be deadly, then I'm glad I get to share these kinds of moments with them. Wait! How can I even assume that? I haven't even read anything. I need to just loosen up and enjoy this time._ The ponies spent the whole day at the sudden party. Eventually they go tired and went home.

Without wasting a second, she took the book and sat at her desk. Spike and Owlowicious began to clean up without her. Twilight opened to the necessary chapter and was immediately immersed in reading._ Okay, so Ventricular Fibrillation is a symptom of Ischaemic heart disease. And it's when there is not enough blood supply. Earth ponies and pegasi are seldom infected. However, it is crucial that they do not exhaust themselves through flying or other forms of work_ _if they have it_._ As for unicorns, they must use little or no magic if possible. The energy used can sometimes require excess blood that the heart cannot produce in such a state. The ischaemic heart disease is fatal, however, it can be treated…So, then…I might die? No! To tartarus with this book! I use magic all the time and Celestia knows for how long I've had this! Do I even have it? There's only a five percent chance…Hm, maybe if I visit Zecora, she can tell me what to do. If I'm lucky, she might have some sort of herb for this. I hope at least._

The next morning, Twilight headed toward the Everfree Forest. She took every step with extreme caution, making sure to not step on loose dirt, Poison Jokes, or trip on something she couldn't see with the fog. She wasn't very afraid of the forest any longer. She figured if somepony could actually live here, it's probably not all that bad. She looked around at the dead trees with branches that threatened to fall on her. The tall grass made her nervous; perhaps a venomous insect would crawl up her legs and bite her. Soon she saw it, a humble exotic hut with light coming from the inside.

Her knock on the wooden door was answered by a kind zebra, "Ah what a delight. To what do I owe this visit, my dear Twilight?"

Twilight loved Zecora's rhymes and riddles. She smiled and asked, "Hello Zecora, can I come in? I have something important to ask and don't want anypony to find out just yet."

"I see. Well, in these woods it is not safe to roam. Please, make yourself at home," Zecora stepped aside to let her guest in, "So, something important is troubling you? I hope there is something I can do," she closed the door behind her visitor who was already sitting on her hoof-made cushions.

"Well, you see, two days ago, my friends and I went to watch a movie. I had a seizure and the doctor said it was most likely epileptic, but there's a small chance that it was ventricular fibrillation."

"And you want to know what you're near future will be. That is why you have come to me?" Twilight gave a very small nod, "Well, have no fear. I have the brew you need somewhere in here," the zebra pulled a few herbs from her shelf and mixed them together. She then turned to Twilight, carrying a bowl made of clay with a clear fluid inside, "This will say what you're future is. Place a strand of your hair and it will tell you if you will have misfortune or bliss."

Twilight pulled out one strand from her mane and placed it in the fluid, "Now what?"

"Simply wait. Then, it will tell you your fate. If the liquid turns red, then blue, you will have a very long life ahead of you. But if it turns red, then blue, then once more red, you will soon be-"

"Dead" Twilight said. Zecora nodded. The striped pony took the bowl and placed it where she was certain Twilight would not see it. She waited a few seconds before it turned red. Afterward, the liquid turned blue. She was about to smile, but she saw the brew turning red again. Her face went pale with fear. She tried to calm down. She was a wise mare and she knew that Twilight would not react well with such tragic news. And besides, it's best to enjoy your last few days without worry.

She turned to the purple mare, anxiety written all over her face, "Worry not about the brew. Fortunately, it has turned blue,"

Twilight let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, "Oh, thank you so much, Zecora!"

Twilight went over to her and hugged her. Zecora hugged her back. She hoped Twilight had not caught on to the melancholic way she returned the embrace. As soon as her guest had left, Zecora began to weep, "Oh why?! Why must she die? Why must I protect her with such a lie?! Why must this be the end? Why must I lose…yet another friend?"


	5. Chapter 4: Truths, Lies, and Guests

Twilight was merrily sauntering through Ponyville. She gave friendly smiles to pedestrian ponies and working ponies alike. Why wouldn't she be happy? Even if she has the ischemic heart disease, she's going to live! She remembered feeling this happy once; it was when she was accepted to be the Princess's star pupil. She looked up to Celestia when she was young. In fact, even now she adored Celestia._ Celestia…Celestia! I should write a letter to her about what has happened!_

The purple pony quickened her pace a little bit. Even though she usually wrote these letters at the end of the day, it was enough just to write about her condition. She couldn't keep this from Princess Celestia. She had to know. She was kind of like Twilight's second mother. Twilight's pace was quickening more and more as she thought about Celestia. She was now at the verge of sprinting like a wild horse. The wind caused by her momentum stung her eyes and made them water, but she didn't care much.

Once she reached the library, she instantaneously went to her desk. It was Tuesday, the day she usually writes her friendship letters. Owlowicious had already set up her workspace the night before: a quill to the left and the ink right above the parchment, which was on the centre. She had many things to write about: how her friends were comforting her, the seizure…how Zecora lied to her to make relieve her stress. She knew it was so she could live her limited moments in life in peace, so she figured it's not worth getting angry over it. After all, she liked the idea of putting up an act that everything was just fine, that she was going to live. She was lying to herself and soon everypony around her, but even foals know that sometimes a pulchritudinous lie was better than the dark and unbearable truth. She hoped that eventually, she would lie to herself enough to actually believe herself that she was going to live. Then one day, she can just be hanging out with her friends and then _poof!_ She's gone.

She grasped her quill in a purple aura and began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned that your friends will always be there whenever you're in trouble. You see, I recently had a seizure in Ponyville Theatre while we were watching the new Daring Do movie together (by the way, I recommend that movie. It was fantastic). When I came back from the hospital, my friends stayed at my house with me for the day. Pinkie Pie and Applejack even brought a few treats. They're so nice.

The seizure was horrid, though. Everypony was scared and so was I. I thought I was _dying_ for goodness sake! It was so tragic that Rarity and Fluttershy, two of my friends, couldn't sleep! I feel so awful that I made all my friends worry. And worse, I couldn't do anything about it. So please, if you want to make me feel better, don't worry about me; I'm completely fine, just a bit shocked. I hope this hasn't ruined your day. That would make me feel even worse…I promise, though, it was just a minor seizure. Okay?

P.S. I would really like you to respond if you have the time.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

The pony sighed and put down the quill. She wondered if it really is a good idea to keep quiet about the ischemic heart disease and all. It's not like she lied or anything, but she didn't like keeping secrets. She decided to ask a doctor next week if she really did have that confounded cardiovascular problem or if it was something else. It would have to be a different doctor than the one who helped her out, though.

Spike had walked downstairs to where Twilight was. Oblivious to the fact that she was lost in a reverie, he casually came up to her, "Hey Twilight! How'd it go at Zecora's?"

Twilight jumped. The little dragon's sudden appearance had startled her, "Huh? Oh…that, it was uh…nice," Twilight's head lowered by about five degrees before she looked to her right with half-lidded eyes and a reluctant smile.

Being her number one assistant, Spike knew the exact little signs that dictated her mood, "What's wrong, Twilight?"

The unicorn looked back at him, "I'm fine, actually," she responded quickly as she looked at the dragon with wide eyes. She was lying.

"Twilight…"

The pony looked away as she chose her words carefully, "I told Zecora about what happened and she…" when she looked back up at Spike, he had a worried expression, "she got really upset. And it made me feel bad that I kind of ruined her day, you know."

Spike wasn't completely convinced, but he figured that whatever it was, he would be the first to know, but she just wasn't ready to talk about it yet, "Well…okay then. But can you promise me one thing?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Promise me that if you ever have some sort of problem, you'll tell me before you tell any of the others. I've known you the longest out of all of us and I always want to be by your side no matter what. And not only do I always want to be your number one assistant, but I want to be your best friend too. So please, just promise."

Twilight smiled at her assistant/best friend. Besides Shining Armour, Spike was the one she trusted the most back in Canterlot. Even now, in Ponyville, it was the same, "Okay, I promise."

"Pinkie Pie Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she recited along with the pantomimes.

"Okay. I'm going to the store to buy more Cheerileeo's and sandwich bread. You want anything?" he asked as he almost skipped to the door in a sudden change from his serious demeanour.

"Hm…" Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof, "I think we're running low on daisies…Oh! Before you go, please send this to the princess," she gave Spike the scroll she had just written.

"Sure," He blew on the scroll, making it vaporise into a green, sparkly puff of thick smoke. He turned toward the door, "So, cereal, bread, and daisies, right? Got it," He gave a claws-up before he happily ran outside into the sunny weather.

Twilight waited until she was sure Spike was no longer near the library before she sighed, "Oh, Spike, I'm so sorry. I just can't tell you right now. I wish I didn't _have to_ tell you…I wish none of this were real," the pony hung her head and sat back on her haunches. If she didn't know any better, she'd stay like that forever. She could just wither away on that very spot surrounded by books. It didn't seem like such a bad place to die in her opinion. She would die surrounded by books, perhaps she could lie on her back wearing a white dress and holding a bouquet of various white flowers and she could just close her eyes, never to open them again. The best thing would be if when everypony found her, they wouldn't be too sad. Sure, they could shed a few tears, it would break her heart to think that nopony cared about her passing away, but she wouldn't want her friends to be in total agony either. Twilight came back to reality and decided to read a book; books always made her feel better.

The rest of the week was spent in a pretty similar fashion; Twilight kept imagining what her death would be like. She wondered if her friends would say something meaningful right before she took her last breath like in novels and movies. She wondered if the cause of her death would be what she thinks it is, or if it would be something random…like horn cancer or something. Whenever she was with her friends and Spike, she would try her best to pretend that everything was just fabulous. However, when she was alone, her façade would fade away and she would become curious about what would happen in the future.

Finally, it was Monday, the day Twilight had been waiting for. Today was the day she would ease a small bit of her curiosity. She cantered into Ponyville hospital and asked for a small check up by Doctor Quick Check. She had overheard that he could quickly identify the symptoms of any health condition. After half an hour of waiting, a nurse who resembled Nurse Red Heart called her name. The mare led her to a room in which a dark grey stallion with a short, light blue mane and tail was waiting for her. The nurse left the two ponies in the room to attend to other patients.

"Hello Miss Sparkle. Please, have a seat while I check over a few things," the doctor gestured toward a grey cushioned bench covered by a thin sheet of tissue paper. He waited for Twilight to have a seat before continuing, "All right then, let's get started. Are you on any drugs? Are you drinking a bit much? Is there anything I should be aware of?"

The patient shook her head slowly, "Well, you see, I had a seizure. A lot of ponies are trying to convince me that it was just epilepsy. I do have it, but I think it could be ventricular fibrillation instead. That's why I'm here."

"I see. Well, I'll go ahead and run a few tests and we'll see what we can find, okay?" the doctor smiled at his patient.

Twilight didn't answer. Doctor Check began the tests.

Twilight almost dragged herself out of the hospital after thirty minutes, "Thank you for everything," Twilight waved at Doctor Check just like he had with the other doctor.

The doctor gave an almost too big smile, "Goodbye, Miss Sparkle! Do remember to take those pills!"

Twilight nodded and smiled. Once her face had turned away from the hospital, her face formed the usual hopeless expression it always did when she thought about her death.

She was satisfied that at least now she was certain of the cause of her death. The information slaked a small bit of her curiosity. She looked at the pills that the doctor prescribed to her; she wondered if she should even take them. They were for the angina, so it would at least make her future less painful. She chuckled sadly; she found it funny that she was worried more about death being painful than death itself. She suddenly felt old considering that one of these days she would have an angina attack; it was rare for young ponies after all.

Even with the doctor's analysis and all, her curiosity had not yet faded. As she walked home in her slow and depressed pace, she asked herself the usual questions ponies always asked themselves in these situations. _Why? Why me? Why am I suddenly just going to die like this? Why can't I have more years ahead of me so I can be with my friends? Since when did I even have this thing? Did I always have it? Did I just develop it? Was there something different that I could have done? Anything? Did I do something wrong? Do I…deserve this?_

Twilight hung on to the last question. Did she deserve it? She wasn't quite sure. She began to think of all the awful things she did to other ponies as a foal; she remembered slamming their faces with books, giving them cocky looks whenever she answered a problem completely right after somepony else got it wrong, she even remembered when they called her 'freak' or 'egghead' or 'nerd' and she would say a comeback that the bullies couldn't understand. They were small misdeeds, but were they really so important that they made her life end in this way?

After a long walk, she had finally reached the library. She looked to the sun, which was now setting._ Celestia, did I really do something so wrong that I deserved such a severe consequence?_ Instead of a response, she saw a figure that seemed to be almost coming out of the sun. Twilight squinted. It seemed like the silhouette of a carriage with a large pony being carried. As the peculiar figure got closer, she noticed that the pegasi pulling the carriage had bat-like wings and slit-like pupils in the middle of their irises. The carriage was very elegant; it had dark shades of purple and blue and had a golden outline with a crescent shape in the middle. The carriage landed right in front of her home. The passenger stepped out and the pegasi flew away.

The passenger had a blue coat and beautiful teal eyes that showed humility and timidity. Her mane and tale literally shined like the stars at night and emitted a light that competed with the sunset's glow. She quietly stepped closer to Twilight. She looked into the stunned pony's wide eyes, "Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle. We-I am so joyful I finally have a chance to see you again."


	6. Chapter 5: The Stars

"Princess Luna?!" The shocked mare managed to say.

The lunar alicorn backed away a little and looked at anything but Twilight, "Oh…um, are you…not happy to see me?"

"Huh? No, no-I mean, yes I, uh," Twilight stuttered. She quickly bowed down, then rose back up. Both ponies were blushing. Twilight decided to restart her sentence before things got more awkward, "What I mean is that I _am_ happy to see you, I just wasn't expecting you to come and visit me, that's all."

Luna stepped forward now that she became less sheepish, "Oh, please forgive my sudden arrival, but for the past week, my sister was behaving quite strangely. When I asked her what was wrong, she showed me your letter. It said that you had a seizure and, well, I guess I was worried about my…friend," She began to reminisce about Nightmare Night and how Twilight had comforted her. Now, she wanted to return the favour.

As Luna's blush faded, Twilight's increased, "Oh! You came all the way here…because you were worried? That's so sweet of you! I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much trouble. Wait, you said…Celestia was acting strange? Oh no, this is my fault…" Twilight now regretted telling the princess about the shocking events.

"Twilight Sparkle, please, do not be so cruel to yourself. This was not at all your fault! It is impossible for a pony to stop a seizure!" Luna's voice was more commanding than she wanted. She didn't like the fact that her voice always had to sound like that. She had always envied her sister's sweet voice.

"Maybe not, but it_ is_ possible for a pony to not send a letter that would worry Celestia," Twilight would have banged her head against the gravel if Luna weren't right there.

"Believe me, it is better for my sister to be informed rather than finding out about something so…unusual."

Then Twilight realised something, "Oh my goodness! Luna, please make yourself at home! I completely forgot to invite you in!" Twilight opened the door with her telekinesis. She allowed Luna to enter before she did.

Twilight's guest looked around curiously at her home. She marvelled at the vast amount of books. Luna noted that she had everything from research books to up-to-date reference materials to instruction books to books for enjoyment. She turned to Twilight, "You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you, Princess."

"Please, call me Luna. Say, did you not have a little dragon apprentice the last time I came?"

"Well, Luna, my apprentice, Spike went to Fillydelphia to buy some books that I needed."

Luna wondered where she would fit those books, "I see," She looked around at the bookshelves when something caught her eye, "Oh wow! You have every book in the Daring Do series?!" She walked over to the bookshelf containing said books and marvelled at them as if they were treasures from the series.

"Ah, yes. My friend Rainbow Dash and I are really into it."

"As are w-um, as am I. Forgive me, I am still trying to avoid the royal Canterlot voice. My sister encouraged me last week to read this to practice the more modern language. It really helped and I loved it!" Luna had a wide grin plastered onto her face. Her smile shone beautifully as a light contrast to her dark fur.

_She 'loved it'? So she already finished the series in one week? How the BUCK?! _"Did you like the last book?"

"I loved it! The ending was so beautiful!" Luna, much to Twilight's surprise, squealed. " Oh listen to me, I sound like a small foal," She giggled.

Twilight didn't know how to respond to Luna so she decided to change the subject, "So, Luna, I saw the chariot leave as you stepped off. How long will you be staying?"

Luna paused for a moment to gather her thoughts, "Well, I am hoping to stay for the rest of the month. I have not really received too many duties as the moon princess yet. Well, except for raising the moon. The moon! Twilight Sparkle, I beg your pardon, but may I please borrow your balcony to raise the moon?"

"Why, of course, Luna. Please, be my guest," said the unicorn.

"But am I not already your guest?" Luna tilted her head in confusion.

"Well yes, but it's- what I'm trying to say is that you may go to the balcony."

Luna quickly dashed upstairs after saying thank you. Then, Twilight remembered when she saw Celestia raise the sun as a foal. Now, Luna was about to raise the moon. From her balcony! And she would be the only pony to see her do it! She absolutely could _not_ miss out on this, "Luna, wait for me!"

The alicorn stared at the fading twilight. She waited for the sun to set completely before she began. Once it did, a thin aura, the same colour as her eyes, surrounded her horn. She closed her eyes as she concentrated while Twilight stood next to her. Luna's brow furrowed and she squeezed her eyelids together as her aura became thicker. There was a light vibration from where she stood. Not anything heavy like an earthquake, but a subtle shake similar to that created by a loud bass. Twilight's eyes went wide as stars became visible in the dark sky. Then, the moon rose from the horizon and took its place in the darkness, it ruled over the stars like a princess ruling her subjects. Slowly, the aura around the princess's horn faded away and she opened her eyes. She looked up at her work in a blank expression. It was as if she were modest enough to not brag and give a cocky expression, but rather just look at what she had done and acknowledge its presence. Twilight on the other hoof, gasped at Luna's finished product. The light glow reflected off of her wide eyes as she stared in amazement. Never, had she really paid so much attention to the night's beauty.

Luna noticed that Twilight had been staring at her night. She was worried if Twilight was mentally criticizing it, "I-Is something wrong, Twilight?" Her voice was full of worry and fear.

Twilight did not stop staring at the gorgeous night sky, as she spoke in a whisper, "No, not at all I just…I just really like the night sky. It's beautiful," Twilight turned to Luna with a small smile, "Luna, did you really _create _all of this?"

Luna blushed and gave a slight nod, "When I was a filly, I thought that my sister's day was beautiful. I wanted to make something as gorgeous as that, but…darker and with only a little bit of light. So I worked very hard on the night whenever I could. I wanted to make it perfect. Each time somepony was kind to me I would place a star in the sky. Then I realised it needed something more. All those little stars needed a grand ruler. Then one night, I thought about how I always wanted to be the best princess I could be; I wanted to be just like my sister. I did not rule many ponies when I was young, but a filly can dream. So I decided that I should make the moon to symbolise me as a wonderful princess who reigns over the little stars and protects them. When I showed Celestia my work, she said she was proud of me. I was so happy," Luna looked at the moon. She wondered if some day she could be that beautiful princess she still wants to be.

"What about the constellations? Did you intend to make them or did ponies just find them?"

"I made the constellations every time I walked around the kingdom and heard other foals talk about their dreams and what they liked. Some said they wanted to cook, others said they loved great birds like swans. And then other foals just wanted to be remembered by others no matter what their talents were. For them, I simply made their stars bright so everypony could know that those stars that wanted to do the best they could in what they did would shine brighter. At least, that's what I wanted it to mean, but I hope that ponies will not ridicule me for such thoughts," Luna looked down at the wood of the balcony.

Twilight patted the princess on the back, "Luna, Nopony would ever make fun of you for being creative. Everypony loves your night,"

"I wish that were true, but that is why I became so envious of my sister and-" Now Luna couldn't even look at Twilight. _How could I speak of something so dark? Now Twilight is probably remembering all of those wicked things I did as Nightmare moon! Why must I be so foolish?!_

Neither pony had spoken for a while. Luna was mentally cursing herself while Twilight was thinking about how to avoid the Nightmare Moon topic. She decided to offer something, "Hey, Luna, How about some chamomile tea?"

Luna nodded and they both stepped back inside, relieved to not talk about the horrendous subject.

"So Luna," Twilight said as she placed her cup of hot tea on the wooden coffee table in front of the couch, "where will you be staying while you're here?"

Luna moved the cup away from her lips with her telekinesis before she answered, "I was thinking about staying in a hotel. Despite the fact that I do not fancy receiving all the attention as a princess, I should be fine."

"Hm…" Twilight put a hoof on her chin._ Spike is going to be gone for a while since the books I asked for are pretty rare…_"Well, if you want, you can stay here."

Luna spoke quickly, "Oh, nonononono. I could not possibly accept that offer. I would hate to cause trouble,"

"Please Luna? Spike is going to be away and I won't have anyone to talk to in the library. I promise it's no trouble at all," the unicorn's eyes were hopeful and begging. Twilight really didn't want to be alone. After all, she had a certain problem to deal with.

"Well…all right. If you insist," Luna sheepishly sipped her tea as Twilight smiled and clapped her hooves in excitement.

The rest of the night, they just talked about happy memories they had as foals. They both shared a good laugh every now and then. Twilight was most excited when they began talking about great ponies of the past such as Star Swirl and Clover the Clever. It was a simple, nonchalant conversation; they talked about topics they both liked or knew about. Eventually, Twilight recalled why Luna was here in the first place. Now all she wondered was if she should tell Luna what would happen or not.

_Luna seems really trustworthy. She also doesn't seem to take anything too hard as long as she doesn't feel rejected. Still, I wouldn't want to worry her nor Celestia, if she asks her about anything. But then again, I'm sure Celestia would just be worried like a friend is. Besides, Celestia wouldn't take it too harshly. All I need is somepony to talk to, and Luna's right here…looking at me…waiting for me to say something…wondering about my face that probably has worry written all over it! Oh, buck my life. And hurry up because it'll be gone soon. It's only a matter of time before she asks me-_

"Is something troubling you, friend? You seem to be in distress. Is everything all right?" Luna asked, concerned.

_Oh no, time's up! Looks like now I'll really have to say it…or maybe not? Hm…_ "Yes, everything is fine. I just…I just forgot what I was going to say, that's all. I was trying to remember what I was going to tell you. It wasn't anything important or anything. Heheh," Twilight laughed nervously. She shifted uncomfortably on the couch. She was about as good of a liar as Applejack.

Luna scooted herself closer to the lying pony and draped her wing around her to ease her worry, even if it worked only a little bit, "Twilight, I'm afraid to tell you that I know you are not telling me the truth. Frankly, it hurts me as a friend, but it hurts me more to see that you are in distress. You do not have to tell me what is wrong if you wish, I shall not force you to tell me. However, I want you to know that no matter what, I will listen to you. I am by your side if you want to talk to anypony."

_I hope Spike meant Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie when he said 'others'. If not, then…I'm sorry Spike._ Twilight took a deep breath. She shuddered, "Do you Pinkie P- Um…Do you promise you will not tell another living soul? I really cannot let anypony else but you know. I trust you, so…do you promise?" Twilight would have made her Pinkie Pie Promise, but she figured she would be confused.

"I promise."

Twilight took another deep breath; this one was a bit faster than she meant it to be, though. She looked away from Luna, as if to hide behind her bangs, as she spoke, "Well, you know you're visiting me because you want to be a good friend and see me since I had an epileptic seizure, right?" She gave Luna time to nod before she continued, "Well, I…it was because of the ischemic heart disease. I lied when I said it was epileptic."

Luna's eyes grew a bit wider, but she kept her calm, "I'm sure it's fine. My sister told me they now treat many cardiovascular diseases. You will be fi-"

"No I won't!" Twilight snapped, her voice cracking. Luna flinched and the unicorn even surprised herself. She just didn't want to hear that right now, "I won't be fine." A tear fell to the wooden floor, making the spot darker, "I have a friend who predicted my near future. Luna, I'm going to die!" Twilight turned to Luna to reveal her wet, and terrified face.

Luna, as well, wanted to cry, but she would not allow herself to cause more trouble for Twilight. Instead, she tightened her winged embrace around the lavender pony, "I am so sorry, Twilight." That was all she managed to say.

Twilight buried herself into Luna's side and released her tears. She was ashamed to soak and soil the princess's smooth coat, but she needed this right now. She needed comfort, and Luna seemed to be giving it to her.

"I truly am so sorry, Twilight. If only there were something I could do."_ If only there were something I could do…If only I were not useless! Why must I lose my only friend that is not Celestia?! All I can do is let her cry and keep her secret, but why can I not save her? I do not want this! Why must this happen…Probably because I do not want it? Of course, if I wish for something I will not receive it, and if I do not want something, I will receive it. This is my fault. Curse it all! Why must I be so worthless?!_

She was relieved that Twilight could not see her right now. So without sobbing, without letting Twilight know, Luna let a warm tear slowly run down her face.

"If only…" she murmured so Twilight would not listen over her sobbing.


	7. Chapter 6: The Sun's Constellations

About three days later, the princess finally became comfortable in Twilight's home. She was still hesitant to use the same shower as her hostess and be served food by her. It's not that she didn't want to use something owned or made by a simple villager. Twilight was anything but simple; she was an element of harmony. Luna just felt like she was being a bother to the poor unicorn when she was supposed to be comforting her. She didn't feel like allowing her to cry was enough. Twilight deserved more, and today, Luna would do anything she could to give her more.

The unicorn came downstairs to the kitchen and yawned, "Hey, Luna. I didn't see you upstairs this morning when I woke up. Are you still having trouble waking up in the morning instead of noon? You know, it's fine if you wake up later than me. Everypony needs to sleep."

Luna turned her attention away from the crepe she was preparing, "As I have mentioned before, I do not need much sleep. I could fall into respite for about an hour, but anymore is absolutely unnecessary," She focused back on the food when she smelled burning batter.

Twilight felt like Luna was only waking up early so she wouldn't seem like a sleep-in pony. She wanted to make sure that Luna was comfortable in her home and that she was being a good hostess. _Speaking of hostess, shouldn't I be making breakfast? Wait, why is Luna making it?_ "Sorry about breakfast, I didn't think you wanted to eat so early."

The alicorn placed the final crepe on the top of a stack on a plate. She levitated the food to the table, "No, this is simply my act to show gratitude." Luna thought perhaps Twilight _wanted _to cook, "I apologise. Did you not want me to cook meals? Or perhaps you dislike crepes?" Luna's face had worry and regret written all over it.

Twilight was now accustomed to Luna's demeanour and she no longer worried very much over such statements, "Relax, Luna. I love crepes; I just wasn't expecting you to make any meals. You don't have to do this though. I let you stay here because I _wanted_ you to stay here, not because I had to," now that she thought about it, Twilight didn't want her staying there, she _needed_ her to stay there.

Luna smiled, "I had to do _something_. Otherwise, I would have felt incomplete. I am unsure if you know the feeling…" Twilight assumed Luna was referring OCD, "If you refuse to accept this as an act of gratitude, then please consider it a friendly gesture."

"Well, in that case, thank you for doing this. It's really sweet of you."

The two ponies sat at the table and ate. Neither one spoke for a while. Luna did not dare to interrupt Twilight's eating, and Twilight was searching her brain for something to talk about. She then remembered what she planned to do today, "So Luna, I was thinking that perhaps we could meet up with the other elements of harmony. I figured you'd like to get to know them."

Luna was silent for a moment as she placed her hoof on the table and thought. _New ponies to befriend… What if I do something wrong? What if they do not like me? What if Twilight gets angry because they do not like me?_

The purple unicorn felt uncomfortable with Luna's long silence. She wondered if Luna just didn't feel comfortable talking to other ponies yet, "Listen, Luna, we don't have to meet up with them if you don't want to. It's just that…" Twilight placed her hoof on top of Luna's, "I, too, used to have very few friends. However, that didn't bother me much as a foal, but now that I have my friends, I realise that I can't live without them. They're important to me. And I want you to also see how wonderful a friendship can be. We're friends, right? Don't you want to be able to know that there are more ponies who will always be by your side?"

Luna chuckled and looked at the unicorn before her, "That is similar to what my sister said when she insisted that I go to Ponyville for Nightmare Night. Twilight, you must believe me, I do want to make new allies…I just-I worry that perhaps, ponies will not like me. They might fear me like they did in Nightmare Night."

"Luna, I assure you, they won't be scared of you. Just be yourself and they'll warm up to you," Twilight smiled.

"Warm…up?" Luna gave Twilight a confused look.

"It's a metaphor, Luna. It means they will be friendly towards you."

"I see. Okay then, I too shall 'warm up' to the elements of harmony," Luna stated, and Twilight cheered.

Twilight and her guest walked to the park, where the group said they would have a picnic. Twilight first noticed a faint rainbow trail following a quick pegasus as she soared through the clouds. Next, she noticed a pink pony who was watching the pegasus fly. Twilight nodded toward the picnic blanket they had spread out on the luscious grass. Luna hesitated for a moment as she struggled to push all negative scenarios out of her mind. She took a deep breath and followed Twilight toward the small cluster of ponies. They all turned and looked at Luna with wide eyes. Luna was worried by their expressions._ This is exactly what I had feared!_ She thought.

Rainbow Dash, becoming uncomfortable with the stillness, gently glided in front of the princess. She didn't bother to bow since she figured this was supposed to be a casual event, "Hey, Princess. Why don't you come over here, sit down, and have a slice of Applejack's homemade pie," the rainbow-mane pegasus gestured for Luna to sit on the picnic blanket as Applejack handed her a slice of her famous pie.

"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight whispered. Rainbow smiled at her. She already knew the drill even though she never really had to go through making friends with the princess. Twilight did a mental count to see if anypony was missing. _Where's Fluttershy?_

As if her thoughts had been read, a nearby bush rustled, almost shook. Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked toward the suspicious plant. She poked her head behind and, as expected, a frightened yellow pegasus was found cowering. Twilight tapped her side with a hoof, which caused the scared pony to jump, "AH! NO! Please don't hurt me!"

Everypony turned toward the source of the scream. After a few moments, they shrugged and continued doing what they were doing. Twilight looked at Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, calm down. It's me, Twilight," When the shy pony finally stopped shivering, Twilight lowered her voice to a whisper, "Listen, I need you to be kind to Luna. She's just as scared of you, as you are scared of her. She's not going to hurt you."

Fluttershy took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the bush. She was hesitant with each step. She felt like she was walking straight towards the gates of Tartarus. After a few moments, she was finally in front of the princess. Luna just looked at her. It took all of Fluttershy's courage to speak, "Hi…" The yellow pony braced herself for the worst. Instead of the evil grin, revealing thousands of bloody fangs she expected, she was a bit dumbfounded to find that there was a pie slice levitating in front of her, "Oh…um, thank you, Princess Luna."

After a few hours of conversing, Twilight decided it was time to go back to the library. Luna reluctantly followed her guide back to the house. She was having such a wonderful time, but like all things in the mortal world, it had to come to an end. End. Nopony who knew about Twilight's condition dare to speak that bloody word any more. End had one specific meaning in their positions: death. Luna grimaced at the thought that Twilight would soon be suffering so much. Never would she bring the topic up, this was a far darker subject than her Nightmare Moon experience. Luna would rather spend another eternity on the moon than live with the fact that her friend, if not her best friend she was not blood related to, would soon cease to have a presence in this world.

So many times after Twilight had informed her of the soon unfolding events had Luna just wanted to shout, "WHY HER?! WHY IS IT NOT I WHO MUST SUFFER SUCH A FOUL EXPERIENCE?! MUST ANY OF US ENDURE ANY MORE HEARTACHE?! MUST I SACRIFICE ANOTHER MILLENIA ON THE MOON TO STOP THIS? STOP IT! STOP! STOP! STOP! I DO NOT DESIRE THIS! SOMEPONY MAKE IT STOP! TAKE MY LIFE INSTEAD! TAKE AWAY MY REGAL ROLE IN THIS UNIVERSE AND BE DONE WITH ME! THIS IS THE ONLY PRAYER I HAVE! SOMEPONY, ANYPONY, ANSWER IT! Answer me…please."

She might have broken down right then and there if it weren't for a certain pony in front of her. She couldn't break down like that. After all, Twilight was having a much harder time than Luna. She felt selfish just letting herself feel bad. How dare she! Does she really think she is worth sacrificing for Twilight? Does she truly believe that she has earned the right to feel pain, to suffer while a friend dies? She had never been so melancholy over a friend's death, so why is it different with this pony? Perhaps it was because Twilight had shown her mercy in the cruel world she returned to after being on the moon. Twilight was the reason she wanted friends. Twilight could almost be like another version of Celestia. It was quite a humorous thought since Celestia had taken Twilight under her wing. She certainly picked up her sagacity and bits of her behaviour.

Luna escaped her reverie once they arrived at the library. As they had been doing for the past few days, Twilight would read anything that would not mention the cardiovascular condition, and Luna would study and do some paperwork sent by her sister. As Twilight was reaching up to get the next book of the Sun's Constellations series, she remembered that it had been a while since she had written to the princess, "Hey Luna, I'm going to write a letter to your sister, okay?"

Luna turned her focus away from her work, "Very well. Would you like me to send it to her once you finish?"

"Yes please."

As usual, the unicorn went to her desk, which was already set up, and began to write whatever she thought was appropriate.

Dear Princess Celestia,

As you know, your sister has come to visit me in Ponyville. She really is a wonderful friend to me. You are truly lucky to have such a kind and caring sister. Anyway, she decided to stay with me in the library so she wouldn't have to be in any hotels getting a special treatment (is it really that bad? It sounds nice if you ask me).

Spike is out of town at the moment getting a few books I need, so Luna is really great company to have here. We've been getting along really well.

Luna did tell me something that troubled me, though. She said that when I sent you my last letter, you were really shocked. I thought you just didn't respond because you were busy, but I have to ask: Is it possible you knew that I was lying when I said it was epileptic? You know I have epilepsy; I had a few seizures when I lived in the castle and even though you were worried, you were never so shocked. Did you not write me back because you knew?

Besides all that stuff, Luna and I had a great day; she got along really well with my friends. We all had a nice picnic and relaxed. I even got my shyest friend to get along with your sister. Luna seemed to like them and they liked her back. They even wanted to see each other again. Isn't that great? Well anyway, I hope you had a good week too.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Please respond to this letter. I really don't want you to worry so much about me. Even if I am going to die soon…I want you to be the last pony I see. Please write back.

She was about to start over on a new piece of paper, but she decided it didn't matter anymore._ What matters anymore anyway? _She rolled up the parchment and handed it to Luna.

Luna looked at the scroll Twilight was giving to her, "Would you like me to revise this before sending it to my sister?" Twilight shook her head and Luna used a spell to send the letter. It was similar to Spikes ability; the scroll vaporised into midnight blue puff of smoke.

Twilight thanked Luna and went back to reading book four of Sun's Constellations. The series was about a world in which the night and the day clashed. The moon and the sun argued about to whom the twilight belonged to. It had always followed the sun, but the moon always chased after it. The twilight tries to solve their problems, but there is only one way. And the twilight must die to bring peace. So this little colt named Tenebris Mors has to help the twilight succeed in its quest. Afterward, the sun and moon realise what they had done and so they forgive each other and mourn over their lost friend.

Twilight found the book interesting and quite…familiar…She thought the series had a nice bittersweet sense of adventure, not something ponies find very often.

It was now two hours before midnight. Twilight was still reading book four while Luna was flying off in the night enjoying the nice cool breeze. She was reading a chapter in which Tenebris was using a spell to rearrange the constellation so their light would rebuild the legendary Bridge of Sidera. That's when a thought crossed Twilight's mind: What if she used magic to heal herself, or at least let her live a bit longer? Yes, it was worth a try.

Twilight focused on her magic. She could feel the aura around her horn. Soon it spread all around her. She felt a light pain on her chest. Then the pain became stronger. Stronger. Stronger! STRONGER! The pain became unbearable. Her aura immediately faded. Twilight couldn't even scream in pain. She collapsed in the hurt of her angina attack._ P-pills. I can't reach them from here. C-curse it all. This…hurts! Luna! Please save me! Please…this hurts. Oh Celestia it hurts…_ Her body was becoming numb, and the only part she could feel was her chest, where she felt a barrage of pain.

Luna came in through the balcony seeming satisfied with her flight, "Twilight, I have returned from-" she was cut off by the horrid sight. Twilight was on the ground grasping her chest with her hoof. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears, "TWILIGHT!" Luna quickly rushed over to the pony in agony. _It seems like an angina attack! I believe Twilight mentioned something about some pills for it. Are these it?_ Luna looked at the nightstand next to Twilight's bed. There was an orange bottle containing pills. Luna quickly levitated the pills over to them. She took one out and placed it in Twilight's mouth.

After a few more seconds, the pill seemed to have taken its affect. Twilight barely managed to stand up. Once she finally did, she collapsed into Luna's chest. Luna sat there on her haunches. She stroked Twilight's mane and whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen. I should not have left you alone. Please, I beg of you, forgive me."

Twilight could not respond. She had fallen into a deep respite.


	8. Chapter 7: Enough

It had been quite a long time since Luna's stay. It was now the middle of autumn and next month, the Running of the Leaves would be held. Twilight wished she could participate again since last time had been a very interesting experience, but that was all Twilight did these days: wish. She wished she had the strength to go run. She wished she had the courage to casually saunter around town without fearing a seizure or an angina attack or even death. She wished Princess Celestia would answer her letters like Luna did. …She wished she had told Spike or anypony else about her upcoming death.

She remembered when the doctor had diagnosed her. She wanted to tell somepony, but she decided it could wait until everypony was more tranquil about the first seizure. Then Luna told Twilight about how Celestia had reacted to her faux pas when she wrote about the theatre incident, and she didn't want it to happen again. Unfortunately, her seizures were happening in times that would be unusual for it to be epileptic. Her friends were now suspicious of her, but she still kept up her joyful façade; she had to. The last thing Twilight wanted to do was worry her friends.

She wanted to settle things as quickly as possible. She looked out the balcony that overlooked the colourful trees around Ponyville as if the scenery would give her some advice on what to do. She breathed in one more time, relishing the cool breeze and the scent of mid-fall. She stepped back into the library with determination. Her pace demonstrated her confidence and tenacity, "Spike, come up here for a moment. I need to tell you something important!"

The sound of her commanding voice reverberated throughout the library. Soon she heard the quick steps of the small dragon coming upstairs, "What's up?" Spike asked casually once he reached the second floor.

_Come on Twilight; tell him what he needs to hear-what _everypony_ needs to hear. I can do this…I can do this. _Twilight took a deep breath before she spoke, "Remember a couple months ago, I said I would tell you what was worrying me?"

Spike's eyes grew wide as he perceived that Twilight would tell him what he wanted to know, "Yeah…yes, I remember."

"Are you sure you want to know? I'm still a bit nervous…" Twilight closed her eyes and turned her head away from her assistant.

Spike recognised this as a common sign that Twilight was about to give up. He placed his clawed hand on her side to comfort her, "Twilight, you can tell me anything. I promise I won't freak out. I'll try to be as mature as I possibly can."

Twilight looked at him. He seemed to be willing to listen to her and not react badly…just what she needed, "Well, I-um, remember what I told you about the movie theatre? And I said it was epileptic?" she waited for him to nod before continuing, "Well…it wasn't…epileptic."

The little dragon seemed confused, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"It was because I apparently have the ischemic heart disease. One of the symptoms for unicorns includes seizures."

Now he seemed even more confused, as if he had just been told that Celestia had always been disguising herself as Luna and she banished herself, "But wasn't the seizure caused by the light from the screen?"

"No. Even though I have epilepsy, the light had nothing to do with it. It was just a coincidence that it happened during that flash."

"Okay, so that's it? You have a heart disease?" Then he paused and thought about what he said. Heart disease. Then it hit him, and it hit him hard. His voice reduced to a whisper, "Is it…is it f-fatal?" His face was pale and his short legs shook. He could already see the answer in Twilight's face, but he needed to hear an answer.

Twilight let out a breath, "Yes."

Yes. That one little word pierced through his heart like a spear. Yes, she had been a very intelligent filly. Yes, she had been accepted as Celestia's star pupil. Yes, she was independent and studied hard. Yes, her talent was magic itself. Yes, she had taken care of Spike for years. Yes, she had amazing friends. Yes she was an element of harmony, a hero. Yes, she was going to die.

His eyes grew wide, his jaw dropped, he dropped to his knees without noticing. _That's not true,_ he thought,_ That's a lie. She's kidding isn't she? ISN'T SHE?! She has to be! This can't be happening! She's all I have! _Spike opened his mouth to release his thoughts, but he remembered that he told Twilight he would act mature. Instead he swallowed hard and blinked, "I see. So then…what happens when you…"

His voice trailed off.

"I…I haven't thought about that. Maybe you could stay with Fluttershy, or perhaps Rarity; she'd love to have you there to help out. Or maybe you can stay with my parents, hm…what about Shining Armour and Cadence? I think you could stay with them too."

_I don't want to stay with any of them! I want to stay with you! I need you, Twilight! You can't leave me like this! TAKE ME WITH YOU! _"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there, huh?"

Twilight gave a half-hearted smile, "Heh. I guess so."

Their heads were rushing through thoughts and words. The air, however, was still and silent. It was a wretched silence they found unbearable, as if they were both suddenly sedatephobic. They wanted to break the silence, but how? They didn't want to talk about _it_, and they had no way of changing topics.

After a few more minutes of the dreadful silence, Spike came up with what to say, "Well then…I guess you have to tell the others, huh?"

"I guess so," Twilight said as she stared into the distance.

Twilight and Spike were making their way to Sugar Cube Corner. Since they usually went there to hang out, her friends might all be gathered in one convenient location. Spike was coming along to reassure Twilight; she needed reassurance, and soon, so would everypony else. Every step she took felt like a step closer to Tartarus. _Funny thing is: I'll be there soon…_ Her blood ran cold when she recognised the colourful building. They looked at each other, nodded, and went in.

As expected, most of them were gathered there, except for Pinkie Pie._ Wait, where's Pinkie? How is she not-Never mind. _The mare in question seemed to had been _launched_ out of the kitchen, "Weeeeee!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she put her hooves in front of her. She somehow stopped in mid-air right before hitting the wall.

Twilight and Spike exchanged dumbfounded looks before she said, "See? I told you toasters could be used for more than bread!" Pinkie Pie turned toward the entrance and saw her two guests, "Hey guys! We were just talking about launching myself from toasters. Want something to eat?"

"No, I just…need to say something important," Twilight's heart was thundering inside her chest. She was afraid to tell them.

"Okay," Pinkie Pie grabbed two pans and slammed them against each other, "EVERYPONY LISTEN UP! TWILIGHT NEEDS TO SAY SOMETHING!" She yelled, her efforts being rewarded with their attention. She turned to Twilight and smiled with a squee sound.

Twilight looked at Spike then back at her friends. Once she felt ready, she cleared her throat, "Um, I need to say something important. It's about my condition. I'm going to…" She did a head count and noticed that Fluttershy and Applejack were missing. Twilight suddenly decided against telling them, "I'm going to…get better soon, so don't-don't worry about me. Hehe."

After a few hours of conversing at the confectionary, they took their leave. Spike shot her a confused look, "Why didn't you tell them?"

"Rarity and Fluttershy weren't there."

"So?" the dragon shrugged.

"So…I don't know! I want to tell them all at once! I don't want to say this twice!"

Spike sighed, "well…okay then."

The rest of their walk home was silent. Unlike the earlier stillness, this one was…pleasant. The air wasn't heavy, just calm. They both needed that. Once home, Spike finished up a few chores and Twilight rummaged through a pile of scrolls she was planning to send to Celestia until she responded…

_ Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Are you busy? I hope you at least have time to answer this question. Please stop ignoring my letters. I'm worried about you._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

…_.._

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Please answer me! I need to know that you still read my letters. I need to know that I'm still your star pupil._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

…_._

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Princess, do you hate me now? I really need you to answer me. Please…Don't hate me. You're one of the few friends I had as a foal. Please don't leave me._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

….

Twilight figured she could send one tomorrow. She had been writing these scrolls ever since Luna told her about Celestia's behaviour.

Twilight felt tears beginning to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them roll down her cheeks. She refused to cry over Celestia. So what if she was the ruler of Equestria? She had no right to just ignore Twilight! _How could she? No- How _dare_ she?! I thought she would always be by my side, but she just left me without any answers. I don't even think she has a good reason as to why she won't answer! She just wants me to suffer. _As Twilight kept hating Celestia, she had been using her magic out of rage without noticing. She was now enveloped by her own aura, using the same spell as last time. As a consequence of using magic with her condition, her aura faded rather quickly and she collapsed on the floor. She was twitching uncontrollably.

Spike had seen all of it, but couldn't calm Twilight down since her magic had been so powerful. Now he could only stare at Twilight while she was going through her seizure. Then Owlowicious came to where Spike was and 'hooed'. That brought Spike back to reality. He quickly went outside to go find help. He knew that Twilight could no longer stay at the library. Twilight would have to stay at Ponyville Hospital.


	9. Chapter 8: Wishes and Memories

White. It was now winter, and the snow outside was white. Twilight almost resembled the snow her current state; she grew paler and paler every day, and she was becoming cold (very cold), and soon, she would fall. She could hear foals playing outside the hospital, but she didn't turn her head to look out the window. She just lay there as Spike was napping on a chair next to the radio. Everything was still.

Outside the hospital, Twilight's friends were coming to visit. Applejack had a worried look on her face, "Rainbow, Ah really don't think this here is a good idea."

"Look, AJ," Rainbow Dash said, annoyed that Applejack wouldn't let go, "Twilight was looking forward to this just as much as me, and she never got a chance-"

"But Rainbow," Applejack persisted, "don't ya think maybe this ain't the best thing t'do for Twilight right now?" Rainbow Dash licked her lips. She was beginning to think Applejack was right, "I'm sure she'd love to later, but now it's-"

"WELL THERE MAY NOT BE A 'LATER'!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "Wake up, Applejack! Twilight didn't want us to know about her condition getting worse because she _knew_ she was going to die! We don't live in a world where everything is just pure sunshine and no pain!"

Now it was Applejack's turn to be left speechless and realise Rainbow Dash was right. Rainbow Dash regretted yelling. She lowered her head, "I'm sorry. It- it's just that I…I don't want her to…"

Rainbow Dash felt a hoof on her withers, but it wasn't Applejack, "I know you are very troubled about Twilight Sparkle's fate, as am I," Luna lifted Rainbow Dash's head, "But we are here to comfort her because of that. And I do think that this is a great way to comfort Twilight."

Once in the hospital, they were led to Twilight's room by Nurse Red Heart, "Miss Twilight Sparkle, you have visitors."

"Thank you."

The six ponies came in. Twilight's eyes went wide when she saw that Princess Luna was with them, "Princess Luna!" Twilight smiled at her friends, "What are you all doing here?"

Rainbow Dash glanced at Applejack, "We thought you could use some cheering up from your friends," she said as she tossed Twilight a DVD of Daring Do. Twilight caught it with her hooves to avoid the use of magic. Rainbow Dash continued, "We never got to finish watching it so…"

"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight said with a warm smile.

The nurse was kind enough to let them use one of the hospital's TV's. It was small, however, so they all cuddled together to watch on the bed. Luna tried her best to get as close to Twilight as possible. Rainbow Dash, Luna, and Twilight dare not blink and miss a second of the movie. The flash came, Rarity was about to pause it, but Twilight put a hoof on hers and shook her head. She would be okay. They all watched all the way to the end. Afterward, they all stayed chatting until Twilight and Spike had fallen asleep. Everypony, except for Luna, left.

The alicorn stayed behind with Twilight to accompany her. She looked to the corner of the room where Spike was, and found a small pile of various scrolls. _Could she have been writing to my sister while she was here in the hospital? Oh dear._ Celestia had not said a thing about Twilight writing letters to her. In fact, she didn't speak of Twilight at all. When Luna said she was going to visit Twilight again, Celestia just nodded. That was it. Luna felt tears forming in her eyes and she put a hoof over her mouth. Twilight did not know what Celestia did with the letters.

…

_It was a regular day in the castle. Celestia usually locked herself in her room while she worked. Luna had given Celestia some paperwork she was required to sign, but forgot to give it back. While Celestia was taking a bath, Luna decided to go in and grab the paper work. That's when she saw it. Celestia's room had three mountains of scrolls: Some next to her bed either un-scrolled or torn to pieces, some scrolls were in the corner of her room, left untouched. The third pile was next to the fireplace, and, as Luna looked closely into the hearth, there were ashes from the parchments! She knew Celestia was upset, but this was no way to deal with such matters!_

…

As guilty as Luna felt, she couldn't resist the urge to read a few. After all, she didn't have time to read any while she was in Celestia's room. She sighed and picked up a letter with her telekinesis. The first thing she noticed was that it was Twilight's hoofwriting, not her scribe's. She figured it was an old letter if Spike didn't write it to prevent Twilight's use of magic. She began to read.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Princess, I beg of you, stop ignoring me! Have you forgotten about me? Have you suddenly begun to hate me? I'm still waiting for an answer, Princess. I'll always be waiting._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

Luna couldn't help but read a few more…

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_You could at least tell me to stop sending letters if you don't want to write back! Am I dead to you or something? I'm right here, dammit! It only takes __seconds__ to write to me and say 'Hey Twilight, could you please stop sending me letters? It's just that I'm far too selfish to write back.' You're really hurting me, Celestia. Friends don't do that. Wait…is that it? You don't want to be friends with me anymore?_

_Your (Still Faithful) Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

…

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I still want us to be friends. Don't you? If you really care about me, write back. You can even tell me to get lost or shut up. Anything! I just need to know you're still there, even if you're not by my side._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

Luna noticed that her scribe wrote the fourth letter.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I don't care how many times I need to repeat these words! I NEED YOU TO ANSWER! I am panicking. I'm scared, Celestia. Do you understand that? I'm scared that when I die, I'm going to die knowing you hate me. Wouldn't you have the same fear if you knew a friend would never talk to you again?! I'm not kidding around, Celestia! I don't care what it takes! You WILL answer me! How much do I have to beg just to get you to write back? If you don't answer me soon, then I don't know how you'll be able to sleep at night after I die._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

…

Luna covered her mouth with her hoof, and tears pricked her eyes. Her own sister was hurting Twilight so much, and she would keep hurting her. Luna had tried her best to convince her to write back, but Celestia would just switch to another subject. One time, Luna even got aggressive.

…

"_Sister, Have you written to your star pupil, Twilight, as I have been imploring for days?" Luna asked as she caught her sister walking down the corridor._

_The sunlight bled through the stained glass windows, creating a beautiful stream of colour on the velvet carpet. Luna had been asking Celestia to write to Twilight for months. She had tried to tell Celestia that her actions were causing Twilight agony, but Celestia would just quickly change the subject. This time, if Celestia tried to change the subject, Luna would try…a different approach._

_Celestia simply turned her head to face Luna, who was two yards behind her, "My apologies, but I _must_ return to my room to fulfil my duties. You understand, do you not, Luna?"_

_Luna clenched her teeth at the way she said her name. It was as if she had threatened the moon princess just by saying it. Celestia didn't want her to mention _the name._ The alabaster alicorn extended her wings as she turned her head and continued her walk toward her room with pride. Just then, a fearsome, almost like Nightmare Moon, anger came over the young sister. She growled and, did what she never thought she would do._

_Luna tackled Celestia and pinned her to the ground._

_Tears poured out of Luna's eyes like waterfalls, "En-enough! I have- have had enough of your- your excuses! You WILL write to Twil-Twilight! How dare you ignore my friend-_our_ friend?!" Her voice quickly rose as loud as the Royal Canterlot Voice, but she spoke in the modern language, "And- and then, when I mention her name, you just ignore my request as if it were some bothersome task! Is that what this is to you-A bothersome task?! How have you not gained insomniac out of guilt? I write to her, but she does not value our friendship as much as yours! I have been trying so hard to cover your catastrophic faux pas of not responding by being a good friend and writing myself, but she wants _you _to write! Our friendship is nothing in her eyes. You are friends with this nice pony, and you just throw it into the fire like it is nothing! I have been in your room! I have seen what you do! How can you even ignore my suggestions to write to your pupil when she is facing so much agony? How can you even live with yourself, sister?!" Luna looked down at Celestia for a moment and was silent for one second, and one second only. She realised that Celestia had not been struggling under her grasp. Celestia's face was expressionless and she spoke nothing. Luna continued her rampage, "ANSWER ME!" _

_Luna raised her hoof and slapped the elder princess with a very powerful force. In fact, it was so powerful, that not only did Celestia's cheek earn a bleeding gash from Luna's blow, but Luna's own hoof was bleeding as well. She looked at her hoof in shock as blood was beginning to come out from the cut. She then looked down at Celestia. She gasped in horror as blood fiercely gushed out from her cheek, and a tear came out of one of her expressionless eyes._

"_I'm so sorry, dear sister," Luna whispered as she removed herself from Celestia, "I-I only, I mean-" A fresh stream of tears made their way down her face as she backed away from Celestia. Luna turned and sprinted as fast as she could toward the balcony. She spread her wings and flew away sobbing, fearing that her tantrum may have been Nightmare Moon's rise._

_Celestia lay on the velvet carpet, the light from the windows making the tear and the blood glisten. The blood rolled down to the velvet carpet, camouflaging into its colour. She blinked and simply mouthed, "If only…"_

…

Luna visibly winced at the memory. She had done it for Twilight, but, if she had seen that, who knew what would have happened to their friendship? Luna shook her head vigorously, as if to shake the memory out of her head. After realising she had failed, she went over to the sleeping unicorn. She gently stroked her mane with a hoof and whispered, "If only I could be like Celestia in your eyes. I would never leave my friend like that."

Luna then left Spike and Twilight to rest.


	10. Chapter 9: The Truth

**Guilty. Guilty, Guilty, Guilty.**

_What? Who's guilty of what?_

**Princess Celestia. Did you really forget she never answered you?**

_It's true, but she'll write back someday._

**Sure, Twi, whatever you say.**

_Who are you, anyway?_

**I'm Twilight Sparkle. Pleasure to meet you.**

_Wait, but-_

Twilight's internal soliloquy was interrupted by Nurse Red heart, who had awoken the patient from her slumber, "My apologies, Miss Twilight. I did not mean to wake you up. Are you feeling okay?"

Twilight rubbed one eye with her hoof, "Yeah, I'm fine. What time is it?"

The nurse looked at the clock above Twilight's bed, "It's six forty-three. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine."

"All right then. I'll just make sure everything is okay, then I'll leave you be."

After Twilight was examined, she laid her head back on the pillow. She was reminiscing about earlier when her friends came to visit. After a few moments, her eyelids felt heavy and she was falling asleep.

**She never wrote back.**

Twilight rose up from her bed, startled. She looked around the room and found Spike on the chair, reading a magazine.

_Today is Tuesday, isn't it?_ "Spike, take a letter."

The little dragon looked up, "Sure." He put down the magazine and grabbed a quill and a parchment.

Twilight cleared her throat, "Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that your _true _friends will always be by your side," Spike noticed her emphasis on 'true', "Now I know why you refused to write back; It's because you're not my true friend. Your sister came all the way here. _Twice!_ And yet, you can't write one damn word to me. I hope you're satisfied with yourself, because I'm not. And I'm sure Luna and everypony else isn't either. Even now, I'm still waiting for a scroll that might never come. I know you've had other students like me in the past. Has this happened before? If so, then I have hundreds of souls that feel the same way. Have fun with your guilt!"

Spike sighed. He didn't like writing such angry letters, but Twilight had been so hurt because of the princess. Everyone tried their best to avoid the subject, but she just won't forget about Celestia, "Should I send it or add it to the pile?"

"Send that one and four other letters."

Spike did as he was told before he left to check on Owlowicious and the library. He didn't like to leave Twilight alone, but she was worried that something might happen. Twilight was not really bored in the hospital. They gave her books to read, she had a radio that she listened to if she had courage to venture out of her bed. Once a few moments of silence had passed after Spike's departure, she climbed out of her bed and turned on the radio. She switched it to a station that was playing trance music and quickly went back to her bed. The music soon lulled her into a deep sleep…

**How does it feel to be abandoned by your own teacher, Twily? Does it anger you? Have you lost hope? You know you can always turn to me; I can end your pain, darling.**

_I'm not angry, just disappointed. And I would never lose hope, especially not in Celestia!_

**It's always puzzled me how you always believed that all ponies are so loyal. The truth is, everypony leaves your side someday. Who knows? Maybe even Rainbow Dash will leave you someday. Ha-ha!**

_Shut up._

**Face it, Twilight; you're going to be alone again someday. It'll be like your childhood all over again, but without Shining Armour, Cadence, your parents, Spike, or anypony. Especially Celestia won't be there to take care of little Twily.**

_Shut up!_

** Even I won't be there. You'll just live a miserable life if you survive this. Just you, a dark room, and a large prison of books surrounding you until you one day die and rot under them. So why not speed up the process? Just give in; you won't feel anymore pain. I Pinkie Pie Promise. Teehee.**

_Shut up! Shutupshutupshutup!_

**You can try and ignore the pain, dear, but it only makes it worse. Anypony can tell you that. Even **_**you**_** know. You're the one who had that lonely childhood after all. Do you remember the other foals mocking you?**

_ Please, just stop!_

**Twilight's a loner! Twilight's a loner! La-la-la-la-la! It was pretty catchy, wasn't it?**

_Please, I beg of you…_

**Twilight, we could be friends-great friends! I can take the pain away! I can give you what you want! ….I can help you make Celestia feel the way you feel. Think about it.**

"No!" Twilight yelled as she rose from her bed. She looked around. She was still in the hospital room. Spike was on the chair sleeping, and the clock said it was four in the morning. She wasn't sure what the voice was, and she wasn't sure she liked it. Still, it did have a good point; Celestia had abandoned her like she was garbage. Twilight still wanted to believe that she would write back, that their friendship was still alive and would still be alive even if Twilight weren't.

If there was one thing Twilight knew about friendship, it was that it had two ends. It was kind of like two foals pulling a rope. If one foal stopped pulling, then the other foal would fall backward, and hit the ground. Hard. Both foals must pull with the same strength so that they won't fall. They depend on each other. Right now, Celestia had not just let the rope go, she was cutting off Twilight's end so they could never play again. _Why? Why is Celestia trying to push me away? Why must she leave me? Why can't I get answers?!_ Twilight clenched her jaw. Tears of anger, confusion, and sorrow streamed down her pale purple coat. She was so enraged, she felt heat enveloping her body. She had never felt such anger. She looked up to see that the heat was actually her own magic enveloping her. And it was a lot of magic.

**Think about it.**

Twilight shut her eyes tightly and let her fury come over her, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared into thin air.

Celestia was in her room organising her paperwork when she heard some sort of magic behind her. She was expecting to find another letter from Twilight, but instead, she found Twilight _herself_ in her room. Celestia was surprised, but her face was blank, as if she had expected Twilight to teleport here. Celestia's heart felt like it was being squeezed. She couldn't turn around and look at Twilight, so she just listened to her yell.

Twilight was so furious, she couldn't be subtle, "HOW COULD YOU CELESTIA! AM I NOTHING TO YOU?! DO YOU REALLY JUST WANT TO GET RID OF ME AND OUR FRIENDSHIP THAT BADLY?! YOU CAN GO AHEAD CELESTIA! JUST THROW EVERYTHING WE HAD AWAY! I HONESTLY CANNOT BELIEVE THAT MY OWN MENTOR WOULD JUST IGNORE ME WHEN I NEEDED HER THE MOST! YOU'RE A HORRIBLE FRIEND, CELESTIA! YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PONY! YOU LEFT ME! I NEEDED YOU, AND YOU LEFT ME! HOW COULD YOU!?"

Celestia did her best to not make one noise. She released a quiet sob, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Yet somehow," Twilight continued. Her voice dripping with exhaustion, "I still find…a way to…to forgive you. I can't stand that you don't like me anymore. I've…I've always looked up to you, and…" she trailed off before bursting into tears, "I just need you, Celestia! You hate me, but I need you! I just…can't…"

And with that, Twilight collapsed onto Celestia's bedroom floor. Celestia then turned around, her face wet with tears. She looked at her star pupil, now unconscious. Celestia picked up her student and used a spell. After a quick second, they were back at the hospital. Spike seemed to be asleep in the chair in the corner. The princess set Twilight down on her bed, and stroked her mane hesitantly. She felt that she no longer had the right to go near Twilight.

_Poor filly,_ she thought, _She was so patient. She felt like I had betrayed her…Actually, I think I did. Yet, she still kept believing in me, like a student should believe in a teacher, or how a friend should believe in a friend. And I just left her, empty of joy, but full of anger and hatred. I wanted to tell you so badly, Twilight, but I couldn't. I couldn't talk to you at all. You'll think it's pathetic, but I just couldn't write because I didn't want to get too close to you when you would die soon. I am an immortal being, and I just couldn't live without knowing that my best friend and student would die when I had wanted to spend time with you more often. Instead, I just let you die feeling hatred and despair-which is even worse. Do you know what it's like? To live for millions of years and know that in the end, your friend hated you? That's what I'll be going through soon._

Celestia had begun to speak aloud, "I know I was being selfish and everypony now frowns upon me….but I need to know you forgive me. Here on in the after-life, please do not hate me because I could never hate you. You will always, _always_ be my favourite student and best friend. Goodbye, Twilight."

Celestia kissed Twilight on her mane and teleported back to her castle.

Spike sat in his chair, his mouth ajar at what he had just witnessed. Twilight needed to hear this. He was happy that their friendship would be fixed, but that feeling only lasted until he saw Twilight twitching.

Spike panicked and yelled across the halls, "Help! She's having a seizure!"

Immediately, ponies flooded into the room to aid the unicorn. They were trying to regulate Twilight's breathing and movements while Spike sobbed behind the crowd of doctors. He had completely forgotten about Twilight's medication. He swore under his breath as he stepped out of the room to let the doctors do their work. After a few minutes of silence and being comforted by Nurse Red Heart, Spike heard a doctor say, "She's going to be okay,"

Spike stood up and asked the doctor who spoke, "Doctor, I have to know: how much longer does she have?"

"Don't worry, little one. She's going to live," the doctor responded as he patted Spike's head.

New tears formed in the little dragon's eyes, this time they were of joy, "She's going to live." He said aloud, "She's going to live!" Spike planned to tell the others the great news tomorrow. More importantly, he would tell Twilight about Celestia. For the first time in a year, things were actually turning up. Spike's face lit up with excitement.


	11. Chapter 10: Giving In

A familiar scene played out; Twilight and Spike thanked the doctors for everything and walked back to the library feeling happy this time. Ponyville seemed more colourful, more alive. After months of agony, Twilight was finally able to smile at the fact that she would be able to live her life. She treasured every breath and step she took. She cherished Spike's company while she was at the hospital. Finally, she was certain everything was going to be okay.

The doctor had prescribed Twilight her angina pills and medicine to calm her seizures. She didn't mind having to go through seizures as long as she would be able to live. Twilight and Spike couldn't help but giggle at the past as they walked. They had been so worried, and now they were relieved that it was all over. _Over_ was still a sensitive word, however. As was _Celestia_ and _dead. _Still, they had not a care in the world. And what was there to worry about? Everything was perfect. It was in a good, even rhythm just how Twilight liked life.

Finally arriving at the library, Spike opened the door for Twilight since the doctor had asked that she still avoid the use of magic for a few weeks until it was safe. Twilight didn't mind, though. She could just study and read while she was healing. Inside, the library was practically sparkling. Spike and Owlowicious had done a fabulous job at keeping the library clean and organised. Not one book was out of place, and not one wrinkle was on the many unused parchments in the corner. She wondered if she should tell Celestia that everything was over with.

_No! I can't think about her. I'll just ruin my good mood. Instead, why not invite everypony for a party? I'm sure Pinkie Pie will be glad to hear me ask for one._

"Hey Spike," the little dragon turned his face, smiling, "Why not invite the others here for a party?"

"That's a great idea! I'll go out and get everypony!"

Twilight smiled as Spike hurried out the threshold. He truly was the best assistant a pony could ask for. He was a good friend too. In fact, if it weren't for them, for all her friends, she might not have had the courage to resist death, or as Twilight decided to call the Voice: Tenebris Mors. Sure, it wasn't very original since she got it out of a book, but it truly seemed quite fitting. Tenebris wasn't really an ally in Twilight's life story though. He was more of an enemy, and Twilight's hatred toward him gave her motivation to keep breathing. Even though Twilight despised Tenebris Mors, she figured it was all in the past now and she should just forget-

**Now, now, my dear Twily, I am your friend and thus, I shall always remain lingering by your side.**

_Why are you still here? Can't you just go away? You're unwelcome and I don't need you!_

**Come now, darling, you can't say I haven't been of use to you. Did I not help you speak your mind to Celestia?**

_ Don't you dare speak that name!_

**See! You're still clinging on to her! And you say you don't need me! I honestly fail to see why we can't be friends. Can't we play a nice little game together?**

_Be gone! To tartarus with you! You're the reason I still hang on to Celestia!_

**We'll discuss this later. For now, go have fun at the party. Enjoy each moment like it's your last.**

As soon as Tenebris Mors stopped talking, the door opened. Spike came in cheering next to Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy and Applejack were smiling and amazed to see Twilight was well. Rarity walked in with Princess Luna. Pinkie Pie came in with her Party Cannon, and…Zecora came in as well. Twilight was confused that Zecora came, but she was fine with it. She had, after all, protected her from the truth so that she could live her life.

Zecora came up to Twilight and smiled somewhat hesitantly, "I am glad to see you are okay. Now, you get to live in this special day," Zecora then lowered her head and whispered, "I apologise for my lie. I just wanted you to not worry before you die."

"It's okay, Zecora. You were just trying to protect my feelings. But I have a question," Zecora raised her head, "Does this mean that the brew was wrong?"

Zecora knew Twilight wouldn't find it credible if she said that the brew could sometimes be wrong, "You could say that death did not take you. Know that this is a miracle and know it is true."

Twilight was about to ask if the brew was indeed wrong in the end, but was interrupted by a firing sound. She looked around to see streamers and confetti everywhere, along with many colourful balloons stuck on the ceiling. Pinkie Pie's Party Cannon had been shot.

Pinkie Pie stood on top of a table and shouted, "C'mon, everypony! Let's party!"

Twilight, as well as everyone else, smiled and cheered. Some ponies danced while others chatted and feasted on the snacks. The celebration was obviously jovial, as the cardiovascular disease had not taken Twilight's life. Since Twilight was the host of the party, she tried her best to make small talk with everypony. She talked with Pinkie Pie about how 'super-duper-fantastic' it was that she was alive. She talked to Rainbow Dash and Applejack and they said that maybe she could enter the Running of the Leaves next year. Rarity offered to make her a dress and Twilight accepted her overture. She decided she wanted to talk to Luna the most so she talked to Spike first and saved her for last.

Her scribe had stuffed a whole cupcake into his mouth before turning to Twilight, "Hey! Great party, huh?"

She giggled, "Hehe, Yeah, it sure is. Thanks for looking after the library with Owlowicious while I was at the hospital."

He waved a claw to the compliment, "Ah, it was nothing. You were going through a lot and it was the least we could do to help," He was about to grab another cupcake before he remembered, "Oh! Twilight! I need to tell you something important!"

"Okay, go on."

"Well, I'm not sure what happened, but back at the hospital, I woke up and you were unconscious on Celestia's ba-"

Twilight put her hoof on Spike's mouth to stop him, "Spike, don't _ever_ say that name to me," Twilight's eyes showed her pleading.

"But she said something that you should-"

"Hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash and Applejack had noticed what was going on and wanted to steer them away from possible yelling and hurt, "Check out my, uh, new dance move! I call it, 'the Rainbow Stomp.'"

As Rainbow Dash pushed Twilight toward the dance floor, Applejack put a hoof on Spike's shoulder, "Spike, y'know ya'll shouldn't be mentionin' the princess t' Twi."

Spike looked at her, "I know, AJ, but it's really important. Celestia explained why she wouldn't write back!"

Applejack took her hoof off of his shoulder and motioned it to tell Spike to lower his voice, "Spike, then ya _really _shouldn't be mentionin' that."

Spike shook his head, "No, you don't understand. She doesn't hate Twilight. She had a good reason."

"Look, Spike, that sounds mighty important, but you should wait. Let Twilight rest for a while until she's ready, okay? Then you should tell her everythin'."

"Well, fine. Okay," Spike said in a defeated tone.

"Pinkie Pie Promise."

Along with the claw-motions he recited, "Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye."

Applejack smiled and went off to talk to Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Spike sighed in defeat. He wasn't sure if waiting to tell her was a good idea. Twilight needs some sort of closure and here it is, but now she just doesn't want to accept it. Spike probably wouldn't be able to mention even the name to the stubborn pony. He didn't blame her though; if Twilight did such a thing to Spike, he wouldn't want to hear her name either. In the end, he had no other choice but to wait.

The party ended after a few hours. Everypony cleaned up quickly and soon left. Luna stayed behind since she decided to start rooming with Twilight once more after she was out of the hospital. After they had both showered, Luna lied down on her guest bed and was rereading the third book of Daring Do. Twilight was downstairs doing research on other cardiovascular diseases while Spike was cleaning the kitchen and Owlowicious had just come back from his mid-night hunt.

As Twilight was about to flip the page, she was disturbed by an unpleasant voice,

**So, did you enjoy the party?**

_If you _must_ know, I did._

**Oh come on. I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation.**

_Well, this conversation is over._

**You know you can't get rid of me that easily.**

_…_

**Fine! Ignore me like Celestia did to you!**

_You KNOW you shouldn't say that name to me._

**Celestia.**

_Shut up._

**Celestia. Celestia. Celestia.**

_Shut the buck up!_

**My, my. Such vulgar language. Here I am trying to be a friend and you just swear like it's nothing.**

_You're not my friend._

**Friends help each other. I'm trying to help you. Now trust me.**

Twilight massaged her temples with a hoof, _that voice is so annoying. Sadly, it's true that Celestia ignored me and it did try to help me. But honestly, what else is there? It's done. There's no fixing it. Celestia just bucked up and I made it worse. It makes me wonder if I really was so obnoxious in her eyes._

Twilight lost interest in her book and went to the back room where she kept her older, more fragile books. She opened the door and entered the dark room. She lit a few candles quickly to not overuse her magic. Once she could see, she locked the door behind her and walked around to find any book that caught her eye. _No…no…I've already read that one four times…no. Gah! These books are worthless!_ She swiped the shelf clean of the books and dust gathered. It sounded rather loud, but nopony came in and asked her if she was all right, so she figured no one could her anything. _So the room _is _soundproof after all._

Twilight looked at a coil of rope sitting in the corner next to a chest. She walked toward the chest and looked inside. They were letters Celestia had written to Twilight as a foal. In the past, she would smile when she would see these scrolls, but instead, she screamed furiously and kicked the chest, knocking it over and spilling all the scrolls onto the dusty floor,_ To tartarus with those scrolls. To tartarus with Celestia! She abandoned me in my time of need and I was still hanging on to her. How could I have been so stupid!? This is just too much. And now I have to live without my best friend. Now she's just a stranger. No more._

Twilight mindlessly used her magic to swipe books off of the shelves and send dust everywhere. She coughed violently, but nothing distracted her from her thoughts and autopilot rampage. _Then when I think that she would eventually respond, she just continues to ignore me! And when I yelled at her for doing so, she didn't cry. Hay, she didn't even bother to turn around! Am I really worth nothing to her? She should have told me that before I became her star pupil! Now I can't live my life! I'm going to have to feel pain when I see the sun! I can't take so much hurt! Just stop! STOP! I don't want this! I wish the disease had taken me away. I have no more hope! _Suddenly, Twilight felt tears rushing down her face, as well as a slithering feeling around her neck. _I just wish she wouldn't have left me. I wanted to be her best friend, but apparently, I can't do that!_

Twilight felt herself at a slightly higher elevation. _I just want to disappear. What else should I live for if the princess herself hates me?! I hope that no one will ever find me, and I can live my life in seclusion! All I do is take up space in this world! Nopony will ever be able to understand my pain! I'm done! I don't need this! I just don't want to live like this! I-_

**Twilight, just let go. Trust me. I'm you're friend, and I won't ever abandon you. I can clear the scar Celestia made. It'll only hurt a bit, and then you can be free. You'll never have to cry again. Just trust me.**

The voice felt so comforting now. Only then had Twilight realised what she was doing while she ranted. There was a noose around her neck. The only thing keeping her from death was a book hovering above the ground for her to stand on. All she had to do was stop the flow of magic and let the book drop. One final tear flowed down her face before she squeezed her eyes shut.

**Trust me.**

Twilight let go of her magical grip on the book. At first, she thrashed about; her neck being squeezed felt very uncomfortable. She gagged at the sensation of her neck being squeezed and inhaling such little air at a time. To make it quicker, she used her magic to tighten the knot. After a few more moments, Twilight stopped breathing.

It was done. Her soul was free as her body hung from the ceiling, swaying slightly from side to side.

Twilight was no more.


	12. Chapter 11: The Lullaby

"Ah, finally. Hey, Twilight! I finished cleaning the kitchen!" Spike yelled as he stepped out into the living room. He saw a book on her desk, but not her, "hmm…Twilight?" He climbed up the stairs and asked Luna, "Hey Princess, is Twilight up here?"

Luna turned her attention to the dragon, "No, I believe she is downstairs doing research, is she not?"

"No. She's not there," Spike stroked his chin in thought, "Hm…she may have gone into the back room to get one of the older books. Should we go check?"

"Yes," Luna closed the book and left it on the bed before following Spike downstairs.

Once they were downstairs, Spike led Luna to the door of the back room, "Yeah, she's in there. I see light coming from under the door," He knocked first, "Hey Twilight, you in there?"

There was no answer, so Luna tried the knob, "It's locked. How strange. May I use an unlocking spell?"

"Of course," Spike stepped aside.

The door was enveloped by Luna's teal aura until there was a clicking sound. Luna let Spike go in first.

They saw that the room was a mess. Spiked looked around at the jumble of books, "Twilight, are you okay? What ha-" Spike looked up. He dropped to his knees and his jaw hung open.

Luna stepped inside, "Spike? Is Twilight down there? Are you hurt?" Luna looked curiously at the shocked creature. She looked at where he was staring and her stomach turned, "No."

Spike blinked as a tear slowly ran down his face, "Twilight…"

Luna turned to the little dragon, with a tear of her own escaping her eye. It was unhealthy for him to be in the room. He _was_ just a kid after all. Luna needed something to distract him, "Spike, why don't we fly a little bit to clear our heads? Let's go," Luna carried him with her magic and let him rest on her back.

Luna ran upstairs to the balcony. Just when Ponyville seemed peaceful, the worst happens. Luna spread her wings and launched herself into the night. She could feel Spike clutching her withers and sobbing. Luna was trying to be strong, but she couldn't help the whines and hiccups that escaped her throat, much less the tears being carried from her face by the wind. Luna flew gently as she hummed a lullaby that Celestia used to sing to her when she was upset. The tune seemed to have calmed him a little bit. Even though Celestia caused this whole mess, Luna still found the melody comforting.

After an hour, Luna turned on one wing and headed back to the library. She closed the balcony door and let Spike climb off of her back. By now, it was pretty late. Spike knew he would have trouble sleeping so he went downstairs for some chamomile tea to lull him a little. Luna joined him in the kitchen he had finished cleaning earlier.

She was hesitant to speak. She knew what it was like to lose someone your life depends on. Even now, she feels pain from when her parents died. Still, she knew any sort of comfort served well, "Spike, I…I am _so_ deeply sorry for your loss. I wish there was something I could have done."

Spike sniffled, his eyes red from crying, "It wasn't your fault, Luna. You were trying to patch up Celestia's mistake. If only it would have worked," Spike looked down at his tea, finding interest in the ripples caused by his breathing and slight shaking of fear and shock.

"You can come live in the castle with me if you would like. Know that you are always welcome there," Luna offered.

"I'm still thinking about where I should stay. Thanks anyway," Spike sighed as he finished his tea.

"May I ask where else you were planning on staying?" Luna asked curiously.

"I have plenty of options;" Spike said as he rinsed his cup and put it up, "I can stay with Rarity, Fluttershy, Shining Armour and Cadence, and a few other ponies. I'm also considering staying here to live by myself with Owlowicious. This place is special to me. Sure, we've been here for only a few years, but this is where Twilight met all her friends. This is where she found joy outside of books. It's also where she rescued you from Nightmare Moon, you know. I'm sorry to bring it up, but that's when she actually found her dignity. That's when she found that she was meant to be a hero. I've been with her my whole life, and maybe that's why I want to stay here, where she last was when she was…" Spike trailed off as a sob threatened to escape his throat.

Luna noticed the sorrow and despondency within his voice. Spike's words were striking Luna's heart enough to release a fresh tear from her right eye and form another in her left, "Oh Spike," Luna rushed up to hug the little dragon. Spike responded by returning the embrace and weeping. Luna was crying along with him, "Like you, I owe my life to her. She-she saved me from Nightmare Moon. A-and she helped me meet new fr-friends at Nightmare Night. If it were not for her, everypony would be sca-scared of m-me."

Spike had buried his head into Luna's chest, making his voice sound muffled, "She was one of the smartest ponies I kn-knew. She was so kind a-and she was my best friend-no, my only friend growing up. I wish that before she had died, I could have told her one more time how much she meant t-to me. I should have told her that sh-she was the best friend a dragon could ask for. I wish I could have been a better assist-assistant!"

Luna held him a bit tighter, "Spike, you're a marvellous assistant. It-it's not your fault," Luna said, seeming slightly calmer.

"Then why?" Spike looked up at her with watery eyes, "Why would she just-just…" he buried his head back into Luna's chest to avoid finishing his statement.

Luna wished she could answer his question, but she couldn't. Nopony could. Yes, Celestia had been a pain, but how could Twilight just lose hope like that? The night princess embraced the little dragon tighter as if it were the answer, but neither of them knew for certain.

Once they had calmed down, Luna and Spike went upstairs. They didn't know whether they would be blessed with the gift of respite or if they would stay awake, lying in agony and tears. Still, they turned off the lights. Luna got into her bed next to Twilight's, and Spike in his crib. Neither of them felt very comfortable during the night with voices in their heads suggesting it was their fault and asking them why Twilight did what she did. All night, twisting, turning, and muttering could be heard from the library.

Eventually, Spike was getting tired of the insomniac and decided to get help, "Luna, are you still awake?" he whispered even though he knew the answer.

"Yes. Are you, as well, having trouble sleeping?" Luna whispered back.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you could…um, never mind," Spike decided against his desires.

"What is it, Spike?" Luna asked half concerned, half curious.

"Well…you know that song you were humming earlier?" He imagined Luna had nodded as he paused, "I was wondering…does it have any lyrics?" Spike said hesitantly.

"Yes, it does."

"Could you…could you please sing it?"

Luna was surprised. Not many ponies asked her to sing for them. Nevertheless, she said, "of course."

Luna walked over to Spike's crib and began to sing,

"_Mistakes have been made_

_But our love never fades_

_I know the times you've cried_

_Because I wasn't by your side_

_But since we are friends_

_We'll be together in the end_

_So please wait for me_

_Tears come to my eyes as the angel flies to her heaven_

_The agony trapped inside of me and my tears are dripping_

_The moon and the sun will bring us fun after tomorrow_

_Then we can play every night and day. No more sorrow_

_But for now I have to leave_

_I was once alone_

_All on my own_

_But one day you came_

_You delivered me from my pain_

_I look up at the moon_

_And hope I'll see you soon_

_Someday we will fly free_

_Tears come to my eyes as the angel flies to her heaven_

_The agony trapped inside of me and my tears are dripping_

_The moon and the sun will bring us fun after tomorrow_

_Then we can play every night and day. No more sorrow_

_The stars they clear the scars of my mistake_

_How could I mistreat you and how could I just leave you for my own sake_

_Please forgive me and come with me to the sky_

_I am now here with you and we can go to where no one must cry_

_If we believe"_

The lullaby had successfully put Spike to sleep. For Luna, she had only felt slightly tired, but the lullaby had brought tears to her eyes. The lullaby was one that Celestia sang to her once she had returned from the moon. Luna remembered exactly what had happened…

How could I have been so cruel to everypony?_ Luna thought as she lay on her bed, her pillow soaked with tears, _All I wanted was for them to see that my night can be beautiful like my sister's day. Instead I just hurt everypony, including Celestia! She probably hates me. What reason do I have to live?

_Luna heard her door creek open, letting in light from the corridor. Luna tried to fight her hiccups and even out her breaths to make herself seem as if she were sleeping. She hoped the pony would go away._

_Unfortunately for her, the pony came closer and sat on her bed. The pony began to stroke her mane. She whispered, "You aren't fooling anypony, Luna."_

"_I'm sorry," Luna's voice was thick enough for Celestia to tell that she was crying._

_Celestia stopped caressing Luna's hair and asked with concern, "Luna, what's wrong? Aren't you glad to be back?"_

"_I do not think I deserve to feel gladness, sister, especially not after how cruel I was to everypony," Luna answered as she turned her head to the elder sister._

"_Luna! You mustn't speak like that! The Nightmare overshadowed you and made you do all of that. It wasn't your fault!"_

"_But I still did it! I should have tried to stop it, but I just let it come over me out of jealousy. Now, everypony hates me. I know you must hate me the most," Luna said as a tear rolled down her face._

"_Luna, nopony hates you, especially not me. I love you," Celestia said as she wiped away the tear._

"_If they don't hate me, then why are they so afraid of me?" Luna asked in a bitter tone as she looked down to her bed sheets._

"_I promise the other ponies will come around. Good friends always come around," Celestia smiled._

"_D-do you promise that if the other ponies despise me, you will always love me?" Luna asked with a bit of hesitation._

"_Of course I promise. I will always be by your side, Luna," Celestia kissed her little sister on her forehead, right below the horn, "Always."_

_The sun princess got off of Luna's bed and started heading out the door, but stopped as she heard Luna, "Wait, sister," Luna said as she sat up._

"_Yes, Luna?" the elder sister asked as she walked back to Luna's bed._

"_I seem to be finding it difficult to sleep. Will you please…will you please sing me your lullaby? I know I sound like a foal, but…" Luna blushed with shame and embarrassment. She had always tried to show Celestia how strong she was, and here she is asking for a lullaby!_

"_It's okay, Luna. I'll sing," Celestia cleared her throat," _Fate has been cruel and order unkind. How can I-"

"_No, not that one. Last time you sang that to me, we were both crying in the end, remember?" Luna and Celestia gave a light chuckle at the memory, "I want you to sing the one you sang to me when I was on the moon…the one you had been working on since Mother and Father…died."_

_Celestia nodded and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and began to sing once more…_

Luna got into her bed, and tried her best to sleep. Spike, since he was a child, was having absolutely no problems sleeping. Luna, on the other hoof, simply lay in her bed restless. She didn't even feel tired. She was too scared to go to sleep. She felt that if she slept, she would be leaving Twilight alone. She was still hanging on the noose, but Luna just couldn't take her down right then. She just wanted her time that night to be one of peace. With all of her thoughts, though, there was no peace. There might never again be peace. Not until Luna had closure.

* * *

Author's note: Just a disclaimer, I do NOT own the lullaby that Celestia was singing at first (the one that goes: Fate has been cruel and order unkind. How can I- and gets cut off by Luna). That is an actual brony song. It is Lullaby for a Princess by Ponyphonic. At first, I wanted to use it as the lullaby that Luna sings to Spike, but I didn't want it to seem like I was advertising the song. No one asked me to mention Lullaby for a Princess. I did it at my own will because I like the song. Also: Thanks to everyone who is reading. Don't worry, I won't leave the story to just have a really dark ending. I'm going to add a bit of comfort. (small spoiler. I apologise. Just thought you should know so you don't think that I would leave it like this.)


	13. Chapter 12: Funeral Plans

A shower of sunlight was hitting Spike's eyes and had woken him up. He squinted at the bright light and got out of his crib. He yawned and stretched his tail until it popped. He went downstairs into the kitchen where he, as usual, found Luna eating poached eggs with a piece of bread and a bowl of oatmeal. Spike said, "Good morning," and began to cook Twilight's favourite hay, oats, and daffodil recipe. Only when he was adding an egg did her remember Twilight wouldn't be eating. Before tears could even form, Spike continued mixing the ingredients together. He figured he could eat it; it was a very delicious meal after all.

Once he was done, he brought the plate, which had an omelette-like mix on top. The hay on top was crispy and the oatmeal and daffodil had a sweet and subtle taste that harmonised with the eggs' flavour. He set the plate down on the table and began to eat. Luna was watching Spike's mood over her teacup she was sipping from. To her surprise, he seemed relatively calm, not happy, but calm. The dragon kept an expressionless face as he ate.

Luna then saw that Spike forgot to get something to drink, "Would you like anything to drink, Spike?"

Spike turned to see Luna's tired eyes. She obviously had not gotten enough sleep, but he would ask later, "Yes, please. Can you get me some orange juice?"

"Certainly," Luna took her now empty plate, bowl, and cup to the sink with her magic. She poured orange juice into a glass and gave it to Spike.

"Thank you." Spike took a sip before seeing Luna's eyes again and asking, "Hey, Luna? Did you sleep well last night?"

"Well, I…no. I cannot say that I did," Luna yawned.

"Hm, I see," There was an awkward silence as Spike finished his food and drink, "We're going to have to tell the others today, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are," Luna took Spike's plate and glass and washed them, "Are you sure you are ready to do this?"

"Yeah, should we go to Sugar Cube Corner or gather them up here?" Spike considered the pros and cons of both choices.

"Here. I know Twilight is still there, but Sugar Cube Corner isn't really the right place to announce something so…sad."

"Okay, I'll go get them, but I won't tell them why I'm gathering them up," the little dragon ran out the door.

Luna was pacing around the library, trying to calm herself as much as she could. She took deep breaths as she thought of how she could say this. Sure, she had given many announcements, but usually Celestia handled more heartrending subjects. She built a makeshift platform out of books with her magic to give her speech. As soon as she was finished, the door opened.

Spike had a forced smile on his face, "Luna, I was able to bring everypony. Rarity was busy, but I told her it was really important."

"Oh, um, good," Luna licked her lips and climbed onto her platform. She greeted everypony with a forced, but comforting smile and did a head count to make sure everyone was present.

Spike also got up on the platform and waved a claw. He glanced at Luna and, after she nodded, cleared his throat, "Go-Good morning guys. Um, thanks for taking time out of your day to come here. We have a really important thing to say. You see…Twi-um, well, Last night…I was cleaning the kitchen, and-and, I noticed that-um… I…" Spike sighed. He couldn't say it. He wasn't ready after all.

He looked at Luna with pleading eyes for help, and help she did, "What Spike is trying to say…is-is that last night, we noticed Twilight was in that room-" she motioned to the room in the back with a hoof, "back there and had not come out for a long time. When we came in, we saw that she…she had…passed away,"

All of them had shocked looks on their faces and there ears dropped. Rarity refused to believe she heard right, "I beg your pardon, dear. Could you…run that by me again?"

Spike took a deep breath, "Our friend Twilight Sparkle is dead," Spike felt like vomiting after saying that bloody word. _Dead._

Fluttershy felt like she was going to faint, but she managed to stay conscious and decided to make sure, "S-so…the disease took her after all?" her voice was shaky and reduced to a squeak at the end. She was obviously trying hard not to cry.

Luna and Spike glanced at each other. The princess couldn't even face the small audience, "Eh…not quite," everypony's ears shot up at Luna's words and she regretted getting their hopes up by not correctly placing her words, "when we checked up on her, she was…hanged. She committed suicide."

At this, their ears folded back again. Fluttershy and Rarity burst into tears and Pinkie Pie went to the bathroom to regurgitate. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were trying to comfort the crying ponies. Spike and Luna felt awful, but accomplished. Luna stepped down from her platform to help comfort her friends, but she, too, began to cry. Nevertheless, she tried to ease their pain. Spike couldn't move at all. He just sat down on the ground, looking at his feet, regretting his speech.

When Pinkie Pie came out of the bathroom, she seemed paler and her hair was flat and straight. She stumbled to where they all were and asked, "Can-can we go see her? Is she still in the room? I really want to see her."

Luna, who was stroking Fluttershy's mane with a hoof, looked up at the pink pony a bit confused, "I have no reason to hold you back, but are you sure?"

"Yeah. I…I want to see her. I mean, going to the library without seeing Twilight? It's just too weird. I need to see her, and perhaps I'm not the only one who thinks this," her voice seemed so sad, unlike her usual bubbly, vigorous tone.

Rarity wiggled out of Rainbow's hug, "I'll go in too," she sniffed.

Everyone, including Spike, stood up. Luna nodded, "Well, okay."

Forming a queue, the seven friends headed toward the door. Luna hesitated at first. It was such a familiar situation compared to her parents, but she finally managed the courage to open the door. Before entering, Rarity let out a small gasp at the disarray of books, scrolls, and dust everywhere. Luna lit a candle on the table, and motioned a hoof toward Twilight, hanging still on the noose. Luna couldn't help but stare again. Twilight seemed almost…relieved to be dead. She seemed calm, as if this was her closure…probably because it was.

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Luna's hind leg. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just stared. That was all they could do. Rarity was giving all her efforts to not faint.

Then, Pinkie Pie came up beside Luna to get closer to the hanging corpse, "Hey, Twilight. It's Pinkie Pie, but you all ready knew that. I just wanted to say 'hi.' And I'm so sorry you went through all this horrible stuff. I hope you're happy in that special place. We might not be able to party together anymore, but just know that we still love you. All of us, we regret not trying harder to make you feel better. I hope you forgive us," Pinkie smiled at Twilight, tears in her eyes. She turned around to face Luna, "Now that we've seen her, we should take her down. Hanging by the neck doesn't seem too comfortable."

Despite the horrifying fact, Applejack chuckled at the pink pony's demeanour, "Don't you worry, I think Rainbow and I can get 'er down from there, no problem."

Rarity finally came out of shock and offered, "I can organise a funeral if you would like."

"Yes," Luna turned to the fashion designer, "that seems like a good idea. Twilight deserves a funeral."

Everyone but Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were untying Twilight from the rope, exited the back room. Rarity left to contact ponies for the funeral. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were talking about how much they missed Twilight. Luna hugged Spike because she simply felt the need to embrace someone, anyone, to feel okay.

Everypony kept wondering what made her break down. Twilight wouldn't simply give in like that. Perhaps they would never know the answer. She hadn't left a note or anything, just questions and sadness. Luna hugged the dragon tighter as thoughts ran through her mind. She wished Twilight were still alive to talk about their favourite books, or spells by brilliant unicorns.

Moments later, Applejack and Rainbow Dash came out carrying the corpse across both of their backs. By their facial expressions, they did not like carrying their dead friend. It felt very uncomfortable and depressing. About thirty minutes after, Rarity came in. She squeaked in shock when she saw Twilight being carried, but told everypony who was coming, when and where it would be, and what they could bring to put in Twilight's coffin.

"Also, we are going to need Twilight's body for the coffin size. I don't suppose I could take her off your hooves?" She asked Spike and Luna.

Spike couldn't help but smile at the love of his life, "Of course. We don't mind at all."

"All right then. Come on, everypony, we shall be going to drop off the body. Spike and Luna also need to prepare their speeches, no?" She opened the door and let everyone else out first.

Luna took the opportunity to thank Rarity, "Thank you for doing this. I'm so glad you could make the funeral for her. And I'm sorry you had to go through all the trouble."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. I'm so sorry for your loss," Rarity gave the Lunar Princess an apologetic smile, "I shall see you at the funeral."

"Yes, of course. Thank you again," Luna said as she closed the door. She sighed. She feared the funeral would make her feel worse.


	14. Chapter 13: Answers

About two weeks later, the big day came. The sky was grey and the air was sombre. The obsequies would take place in the fields rather than in town. Twilight loved reading in fields, where it was quiet, instead of reading in the busy city of Canterlot. Those who attended the funeral were her friends, her family from Canterlot, some ponies from Ponyville, and a few ponies Rarity had contacted. Right now, they were giving gifts. Most of them brought flowers or books, but Twilight's friends had more sentimental keepsakes.

Rarity had the courage to go first. Her mascara was running from her crying, but she didn't care about how she looked. Sweetie Bell was right behind her big sister as Rarity pulled a magnificent dress out of her pouch. It was much like that of the gala, but this one had diamonds placed methodically to represent the constellations. It sure attracted much attention, but still kept a sense of simplicity like Twilight wanted.

Rarity sniffed, "Hello, Twilight. I remade your gala dress. It was very expensive to make, but I couldn't just give you rubbish, now could I?" Rarity smiled.

"I helped her make it! We stayed up all night! Well, Rarity fell asleep, but I didn't even blink. I hope you like it, Twilight," Sweetie Bell chimed. Her voice cracked towards the end.

"Yes, well, I was tired," Rarity continued, "I had to do research on constellations and get specific sizes of diamonds that Spike had helped me find. But enough about the dress; this is _your_ funeral," Rarity cleared her throat, "I want to say that you are probably the smartest pony I've ever met. Who would have thought that it would end like this? I thought we would see everything to the end. It's okay though; you had a great life in my opinion. You died a hero and a good friend. If it weren't for you, I might have never learned the true importance of friendship and-" Rarity choked on her words. She was determined to finish, though, "I wished I had told you how much you meant to me as a friend!" Rarity immediately broke down. Sweetie Bell had to help her return to their seats.

Next, Pinkie Pie decided to go. Her mane wasn't straight anymore, but it wasn't as bouncy as usual either. She went up to Twilight and placed her 'secret recipe' in the coffin. She smiled in a soothing, unlike-Pinkie-Pie way, "Hey again, Twilight. I'm sooo sorry I couldn't convince you to stay with us. But I hope you'll like my recipe. It's the recipe for Pinkie Pie's Super Special Amazing Ultra-Tastic Fudge-Waffle-Taffy-Éclair-Mousse-Donut-Marzipan-Ma scarpone-Merengue-Madness-Cake. It's my own special version of the MMMM. Take real good care of it! Okay? And I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed partying with you. We all miss you, so make sure you write, okay? That's probably impossible, but you're smart, so I'm sure you can think of something, right?" the mare blinked and a tear rolled down her cheek, "Right…? Of course you can. I believe that you can do anything."

As Pinkie Pie sat down, Rainbow Dash nudged Fluttershy's side. Fluttershy refused to go since she was the most sensitive of the six and would like to avoid more tears, "Rainbow, I-I can't. D-don't make me do th-this…Please."

Rainbow Dash felt a tinge of guilt from trying to force her friend to go up there. She knew it was hard for her, but Rainbow also knew that Fluttershy would hate herself for not going up there, "Listen, Fluttershy…I know you don't want to cry anymore. Believe me, I want Twilight to be alive as much as you do, but since she's gone…we need to say goodbye, okay?"

"I'm s-sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I c-can't go up there and look at-" Fluttershy choked on her tears. _At least I didn't need to finish my sentence._ She thought as she coughed violently.

Rainbow Dash patted her on the back, "Why don't I go up there with you while you say goodbye and you stay up there with _me_ while _I_ say goodbye? If you feel like you're about to cry, I'll be right there with you, okay?"

Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow Dash with misty eyes, "Y-you promise you won't leave me?" Fluttershy asked, thoughts rushing through her head about the past. She didn't want to be left alone to cry.

"I Pinkie Pie Promise-" she vowed while making the matching movements, "that I won't leave you're side. Remember, I'm the Element of Loyalty after all."

The yellow pegasus took a deep breath, "Okay, let's go."

Fluttershy's steps were shaking with hesitation. It was like flight camp all over again, only worse. This wasn't just her problem. _Everypony_ was upset about Twilight's departure from the living realm. What was worse, she died hating someone. After what seemed like an endless journey, they were finally in front of their friend.

Fluttershy opened her satchel with her left wing and took out something rectangular-shaped wrapped in brown paper, "Um, hi, Twilight. I-I know it's not much, but it's the painting Angel made for us during the summer, remember?" It-it's the one that he made when we were all in the pasture at sunset and I told you guys he wanted to paint a portrait. Remember? I-I hope you do, but...I suppose you might have forgotten. Th-that's okay. I don't mind as long as you don't forget your friends. I won't f-forget you, Twilight. None of us will forget you. Y-you were so kind, a-and you were okay with my timidity. Not everypony has always been okay with me. You taught me s-so much about friends. _Pony_ friends. I only had my animals before you came around. Thank you." Fluttershy immediately began sobbing quietly, but strongly.

Rainbow Dash put her right wing over her crying friend. _My turn._ She opened her own satchel and pulled out the Daring Do movie. "H-hey Twilight. Um…wow. I can't believe this happened. You know, I always thought smart ponies like you were lame. Heh. After meeting you, I guess I was wrong. I do want to know, though: Did I…did I make you do it? I didn't right? I didn't. Please, tell me I didn't!" Rainbow Dash swallowed a lump in her throat. She felt Fluttershy nuzzle her cheek to comfort her. _Right. This isn't the time to blame myself for what happened now or then._ Rainbow Dash sighed, "Sorry. Well, I hope you're okay now. I wanted you to watch me become a Wonderbolt, but I guess you'll get a much better view of my awesomeness from the sky. And thanks for giving me that Daring Do book at the hospital. You taught me so much, and gave me really cool friends, and-" Rainbow felt a warm tear escape her control and roll down her face, "I'm gonna miss you, Egghead," She finished as her voice cracked. Her wing retracted from Fluttershy's back, and she placed a hoof over her eyes.

Fluttershy stared at her friend for a moment. She had never seen her cry. Then, it was Fluttershy's turn to place her wing over the cyan pegasus's back. Rainbow looked at her, and Fluttershy smiled weakly. They returned to their seats once Rainbow Dash had dried her eyes. Only Fluttershy would know about that moment.

Now, Applejack went up with Applebloom. She pulled out a tag with the number forty-two on it and laid it in the coffin, "Howdy, Twi. That there was your number in the Runnin' o' the Leaves. We sure had good times then. I remember that day clear as crystal. Rainbow n' I were gonna race, then ya'll came along after we were fightin' and all and taught us a thing or two. Thanks for that, sugar cube," Applejack sniffed, "Y' know, I-I'm glad ya'll came to Ponyville. You helped me so much on the farm. Hay, everypony from the Apple family owes you a lot! I know you were goin' through a lot, sugar cube, but at least it's all over now. I promise, we'll never forget you, darlin'." Applejack walked away with a small smile and a streak of tears on both cheeks.

"Goodbye, Twilight. Thanks for giving me advice on Cutie Marks. You're a Crusader in mah eyes," Applebloom said before following her older sister.

Finally, Spike and Luna went up together. Both of them had tear marks on their faces. Once in front of the coffin, Spike took out an old scroll, while Luna took out a strange and obviously hoof-made object. Spike spoke first, "Uh…hi Twilight. Um…how-how should I start?" he asked himself rather than Luna, "Well…uh, that scroll, if you remember, is the first letter I wrote for you-a _practice _letter, not a real one. I couldn't bring the first one because it was for- um… I think I lost it. Clumsy me…heh. Anyway, uh, I just wanted to say that you're my best friend and…I-I can't believe you're gone. If it weren't for you, I might have been selfish and stupid. You were so smart that even before you started studying the magic of friendship, you were able to teach me about it. I'm going to miss you so much. Life without you is going to be so lonely," Just then, Luna draped her wing over Spike's back to remind him he is not alone.

With a smile, he continued talking; "Oh, and Luna and I made you something last night. It's a bookmark. I know it's not much, but…" Spike took a deep breath, "It's made out of candy wrappers from Nightmare Night and it has a drawing of you're Cutie Mark. We tried our best so I hope you like it."

Now, the moon princess spoke, "If you're wondering, the Nightmare Night candy wrappers are a keepsake of when I first visited…when I first made new friends…when _we_ became friends. I can't thank you enough. If you hadn't helped me, ponies would have just looked at me, recall Nightmare Moon, and flee from me. I would be so alone and since I am a princess, I am unable to…escape the solitude. I know you were suffering, and I am so, _so_ sorry. I should have been a better friend, and I should have stopped you! It's all my fault for not trying hard enough to get Celestia to write back. I should have tried harder, but I didn't and I am sorry. "

Before Luna could get carried away, Spike led her back to their seats. Once they sat, he whispered, "It's not your fault, Luna. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Luna's eyes went wide for a moment. In that one second, she remembered Celestia saving her life…

"_Luna, how about we have a race for old time's sake? Don't be telling me you're too old to have fun!" the sun princess yelled as she neared her sister's room. When she pressed her ear against the door, she heard something…sniffling? Sobbing? "Luna? Are you okay?" Celestia tried to open the door, but it was locked. Desperate to comfort her sister, Celestia used an unlocking spell, "Luna! Are you hurt? Did somepony-"_

_Celestia only had a moment to react. She tackled Luna from the side with all of her might. The knife in the younger sister's telekinetic grip fell to the ground with a clang. Luna moaned in pain, tears in her eyes, "Sister! Wh-what in Equestria are you doing?" Luna stuttered nervously._

"_Me? What are _you_ doing, Luna? I came in worried somepony was trying to hurt you! I didn't think that it would be…you yourself," Celestia got up from on top of her sister and helped her to her hooves. Luna didn't dare to look into the white alicorn's eyes, but Celestia ignored it, "Why? Why would you attempt suicide?"_

_Luna looked down, "I wasn't attempting suicide, I was…" Luna trailed off. She was never good at lying._

"_Luna, the knife was aiming for your_ heart_! And you looked like you were about to end everything too. Now, tell me what is wrong."_

_Luna looked to her right rather than her sister, "I don't want to talk about this. You have, yet again, invaded my privacy and I would like you to exit my room and leave me be. This is none of your concern."_

"_None of my concern?" Celestia looked more infuriated than worried, "You are my little sister! I am certain that you trying to die is of my concern!" Celestia calmed herself, "Now please, tell me what the matter is? Did somepony hurt you or is it Nightmare Moon?"_

_Luna sighed, "If you must know, I wanted to free myself from everything, not just Nightmare Moon."_

"_What do you mean by 'everything'?" Celestia asked slowly._

_Luna finally looked at her sister with tears streaming down her face, "I mean _everything!_ This life! The blame! The guilt! The nightmare! My mistakes! Everything!"_

"_Luna…" Celestia's throat swelled up, "What do you mean 'blame'?"_

"_Like you do not know! I am Nightmare Moon! I told you I let it overcome me! I'm also the reason Mother and Father died! They tried to stop Nightmare Moon, but...they couldn't. Now they're gone. Forever."_

"_Luna, maybe you _were_ jealous of me, but that doesn't mean that you _wanted_ Nightmare Moon to control you," Celestia placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder._

"_Perhaps, but I still-"_

"_Hush now, my dear." Celestia interrupted, "Stop thinking about it. Now, promise me you will forget about the past and race with me." Celestia smiled._

"_Fine. I promise. Now let's go," Luna chuckled._

"_Oh, and Luna, it's not you're fault. Don't be so hard on yourself, okay?" Celestia removed her hoof from Luna's shoulder and led her out to the balcony._

…

Just as Luna escaped her flashback, everypony turned to see a gold and white chariot making its way toward the field. Luna squinted, then she opened her mouth in shock. She shouldn't be here. The chariot landed and from it, the sun princess appeared. She had the same expression as everyone else, melancholic and empty. However, now all of their faces were amazed, except for Twilight's friends and parents who knew about the situation. They just glared at the alabaster alicorn. Twilight's mother couldn't even look at Celestia. She could only dab her newly formed tears with her handkerchief.

Princess Celestia calmly made her way to the coffin where she placed Twilight's Element of Harmony, the tiara and a purple rose. _I hope you like it. I placed a spell on it so it shall never rot, nor will your corpse as long as you have it. Goodbye, my friend._ She thought.

Twilight's father stepped up behind her. Celestia turned to face him with an expressionless face. He was obviously not amused but still kept as calm as could be, "With all due respect, your majesty, I request that you leave _now._"

Celestia didn't move. She just looked at him with that expressionless face.

"Princess, I beg of you, just leave us to mourn in peace!" Celestia, again, gave no response.

Twilight's father was about to charge when Luna teleported in front of her sister, "Wait, please! She may have made a mistake not writing, but she is still my sister. I cannot allow you to hurt her. Please, for Twilight's sake, do not raise your hoof against her, but against me. I should have done a better job at coaxing her to write," Luna bowed her head to show submission.

"Very well. My apologies, Princess Luna, I was about to lose my temper, but I shall not harm her. I respect your orders more than I do hers," he spat.

As Twilight's father sat down, Celestia placed her hoof on Luna's shoulder, "We have to leave right now, Luna."

"But we haven't given the eulogy yet," she said, turning.

"I'm sorry, but we must leave immediately. I know you hate me right now, but please, just come back with me. I need to fix this. I need to end this right," Celestia's face seemed threateningly serious.

"I…fine."

The sisters walked toward the glorious chariot. Luna waved goodbye and they left. The entire ride was completely silent. Luna watched the beautiful lights of Canterlot come to life as the sun was setting. Celestia just seemed to sit motionless, as if she were going to be judged if she moved.

The chariot landed in front of the castle and they exited it. Acknowledging the guards at the entrance, they went through the doors. Luna went to the balcony to set the moon. Celestia was sitting in the dining hall alone, drinking chamomile tea to clear her thoughts. However, the task had to be suspended when a certain dark blue alicorn came in.

Luna looked at her sister. Ironically, she seemed to be acting more mature than Celestia. The sun princess sighed, "I'm sorry. I know it was foolish of me to just abandon her like that. It's all my fault and I deserve all the hate in the world as punishment," she said, not daring to look at Luna.

Now it was the moon princess's turn to sigh, "Although everypony might hate you, I forgive you," Celestia's smile was something to be thankful for, but Luna wasn't about to change topics, "Of course, my forgiveness does not make your actions acceptable."

Celestia's smile slowly faded, "I understand. I am willing to answer any questions now."

"Alright then," Luna pulled out a chair to sit in, "Let us begin by explaining why you did not answer in the first place. Did you find her words to be just boring prattle? Did you, and please tell me this theory is wrong, suddenly decide to be cruel? Or do you perhaps have an actual reason?" the dark blue sister asked with a voice that seemed indifferent, concerned, and infuriated all at once.

"Well, besides the shock, I already knew how this would end. Twilight is-_was_ one of the most outstanding pupils I have ever taught. Not only that, but she also became a great friend. I had gotten far too attached to her. I mean, be honest, how many ponies out there befriend me for who I am and not my position? Take away the crown, the wings, and the horn, and I'm just another pony. Twilight was able to see past that," Celestia smiled as she stared at her now lukewarm tea, "Unfortunately, she had found better friends in Ponyville. I lost her to them, and then the ischemic heart disease…I just couldn't deal with so much pain for an eternity. I figured that if I just kept my distance, it wouldn't hurt as much. It became hard when she kept writing to me, but I persisted."

"And so you found it appropriate to destroy her letters? I've been in your room, sister," Luna stated.

"I know it was very selfish of me, but you need to understand that I was desperate. Those letters were tempting me, but I couldn't respond. Especially not then, after I had hurt her so much. She would just get angry. Word reached me that she had-" she was cut off by a hiccup. She looked up from her cup and at Luna. Her eyes were overflowing with tears, "and I just can't forgive myself now, and it gives me solace that you do," she sobbed.

Luna mentally cursed herself for spilling her own tears when she was trying to be cross with Celestia. Her sister had far too much charm to be angry at. She always had a good reason for something. Luna cleared her throat, "I…I'm sorry. I suppose I thought I knew exactly what was going on, but…once again I find myself to be the foolish pony that wants to judge everything she believes."

"No, no. I should be sorry. I did something unforgivable, and it cost some one their life." Celestia smiled apologetically.

A few moments of silence passed. Finally, it was broken by Luna's query, "Well…how do you plan to fix this, sister?"

Celestia bit her lip in thought. She stared into her cold tea until she thought of something, "I think…I think I know what to do."

And with that, Celestia got up from her chair and trotted into the corridor. Luna was quite curious about her sister, but she decided to ask after Celestia had cleared things up. The moon princess smiled and went to her bedroom. Perhaps Luna and everyone else _would_ receive closure after all. That was all that they wanted.


	15. Chapter 14: Closure

Celestia entered her magnificent room and sat down near her fireplace. Using her magic, she got a parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. Once her thoughts were gathered, she began to write:

_Dear Twilight Sparkle,_

_ Please forgive-_

"No," Celestia mused aloud, "I don't think that's the best way to start. I want to make this letter perfect. She deserves as much." The Sun Princess ripped the letter and threw it into the fireplace with her magic. She placed a fresh parchment in front of her and took a deep breath before starting over:

_Dear Twilight Sparkle,_

_ I am so sorry for all I have done. I shouldn't ask for your forgiveness because I do not deserve it. I know you are cross with me. I honestly can't even sleep knowing all I did to you, and if I do manage to fall asleep, I dream about my cruel misdeeds. I should explain my actions to you though. First, I just want to say that I thought this was the right thing to do at first, now I realise how selfish it was. When you wrote to me saying that you had had an 'epileptic' seizure, I could already see the lie through the black ink. I knew how this would end. I was your friend though, and I didn't want your life to end. I didn't want our friendship to end._

_ So I kept my distance._

_ I didn't write you back so that your death would not hurt me as much. You kept writing, but at this point, I couldn't write back. I had spent countless nights lying on my bed with my eyes open. I was trying not to fall asleep because if I did, I would dream about you…about your death. When you got worse, my insomniac did as well. You kept sending me letters and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't answer you. I just couldn't. If I did, then when you would have died, I...I wouldn't know what to do. My eternal life would be filled with emptiness and depression. I can't rule Equestria like that._

_ But now that you are gone, I see how much worse I've made things. I've begun to hate myself so much, that I am questioning my existence! I hated myself because Luna had to fix all my mistakes. I made her feel responsible for your death! I hated myself for hurting you the way I did! I hated myself because after a whole __eternity__ of experience with friendship and its magic, I was still stupid enough to make you hate me! I never wanted you to hate me. I wanted to be your friend. I wanted to be with you in the brightest days and in the darkest hours. I never wanted to be cruel to you. Now, just knowing what I did, I wish I could just escape from it and be with you…but I can't escape life. All I can do is ask for your forgiveness even though I don't deserve it._

_ You don't have to forgive me. Why would you? I have been the worst friend you could possibly ask for. When you were a little filly, I remember when I asked if you would be my special student. I still recall your adorable reaction. Remember when we arrived at the castle and at the end of the day you hugged me and said that I was the 'best friend ever'? I wish you could say the same thing now. I know I ruined our friendship, but since you're gone and we can't fix it, the least I can do is write this to you. I don't even know how you can even read this or if you even will, but I just needed you to have your closure._

_ If only you were here, maybe we could come up with a way to solve everything. If only you could just teleport in here suddenly and just tell me that everything is okay. Even if you were alive, I doubt that we could fix what I have done. I wish I had never been so selfish. In the end, it's my fault. It's strange. All this time, ponies would often look up to me and see me as a perfect individual. Some role model I turned out to be. You knew that apart from my position and powers, I was just a regular pony. I had feelings, I liked to have fun, and I felt sad when bad things happened. I was never perfect and you seemed to be the only pony to ever understand that. For once, I thought somepony knew the real me, and now…that somepony is gone._

_ I really am sorry. I didn't want this to happen, but my selfishness blinded me. I just wanted to not feel pain, and instead that's all I feel now. I know I deserve it, but please know that I never intended to harm you. I loved you. You were always there for me whether you knew it or not and I am so thankful for that. I'm sorry that this is how I paid you back. I can't believe that I was the cause of your death. I didn't know you were so dependent on my words. I just wish you were here to read this now. I would say better late than never, but this isn't going to bring you back. At least you have the letter that you wanted now._

_ We will never forget you Twilight Sparkle. Equestria will remember your name for generations to come as well. Your friends and I are so grateful for all you have done for us and we will miss you. I will miss you. I just wish it didn't have to end like this, but I promise I want to make things right. I will never forget you, my dear friend._

_ Your Faithful Teacher,_

_ Princess Celestia_

* * *

Luna was still sitting in the dining hall. She was still smiling at the thought of closure. Everything would be okay. Celestia said she would make things right, and Luna trusted Celestia.

_Ah, yes. Our hearts will soon stop grieving and we can be glad once more. I guess those who mourn really _are _comforted in the end. Now, I wonder how Celestia plans to "make it right". Perhaps she is going to prepare something else to bring to Twilight's grave? Or maybe she will be offering Spike refuge in the castle? …Just a thought, but what if she-No! _Luna smacked herself for thinking such a thing, _my sister wouldn't dare! After all, it's not like she can simply get away with it…But she wouldn't run away either…and it _has _been a bit too quiet for a while…Oh dear, what if I'm correct?_

Luna bolted out from her chair and ran through the corridor. She extended her wings to quickly fly toward the elder sister's room. The guards in the hall gave her concerned looks and trotted after her. When she and the guards following her arrived at Celestia's room, Luna asked the soldiers in front of the door, "Have you heard anything?"

"No, your majesty. Is something wrong?" asked the grey-coat guard on the left side.

"Well, we will discover that in a moment. Open the door, please." Luna ordered.

Without question, the guard on the right opened the golden portal. Luna rushed inside to confirm that there was no corpse of a legendary being on the floor.

Celestia had just sent her letter through a spell that was linked not to Spike, but to Twilight herself. She turned with a confused look to Luna, "Do you need something, sister? You seem a bit pale."

"Oh, Celestia!" Luna playfully tackled her sister to the ground in a hug. She didn't fight the tears that pricked her eyes, "I'm so glad you are unharmed!"

Celestia, although confused, returned her sister's embrace, "Of course I am unharmed. Why would you think otherwise?"

Luna clutched the sun princess tighter, "I thought you…I thought you had left me forever."

The alabaster pony stroked the moon princess's mane, "Oh, Luna. I would never forsake you in such a way. I will always be here with you, okay?"

Luna pulled herself up from Celestia and sniffed, "So, did you make things right?"

Celestia smiled, "Well, I did the best I could, but even if Twilight doesn't forgive me, I'm just glad I could give her reasons for my actions.

"I'm sure she forgives you. I'm proud of you for doing this."

"Thank you. Now, I have an offer. And I want you to think about it before you say 'no'." Celestia waited for her sister to nod before continuing, "How about we have a slumber party in the garden like we did as foals?"

"Honestly, Celestia, you are so foalish! I would _love_ to camp out in the garden!" Luna frowned jokingly. Celestia explained to the guards in her room that they were off duty for the night.

* * *

In the middle of the night, while sleeping in the tent, Celestia heard the sound of a spell. She opened one eye to see a puff of purple smoke in front of her. From it, a letter appeared and she opened her other eye to see better. Celestia seemed confused since the seal on the scroll was from Ponyville, and even more confused as it was Twilight's hoofwriting!

In the scroll was a small picture of Celestia and Twilight when she was a foal. Twilight was on Celestia's back hugging her withers and making one of those smiles you rarely see on somepony. It was a smile of pure joy, and Celestia had the same expression.

The Sun Princess read the message:

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I forgive you. Our friendship is magical, and I promise to carry that friendship even after I die! I'll be watching over all of you, I promise._

_Your Faithful Student,_

_Twilight Sparkle_

Celestia rolled up the scroll and tucked it under her blanket. She would show Luna and everyone else in the morning. The princess felt tears misting up her eyes, but she wore the same smile in the picture, and she couldn't control the warm feeling of joy in her chest. She, too, would carry their friendship.

* * *

And so this story comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed it. By the way, I put two references here: a Bible reference and a My Little Pony: Friendship Was Magic reference. See if you can spot them. Also, comments, reviews, criticism, thoughts, and questions are strongly encouraged. Thank you, all of you, for sticking around and reading this. Whether you favourited, followed, commented, or simply read it and that's it, thank you. It means a lot to me and sorry that you might not have gotten the ending you wanted. But that's how stories are. Again, feel free to comment (or PM) about any questions, or thoughts. But don't troll or start arguing, please. Thank you all and have a wonderful day/night. :D


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